Disclaimer: I do not own Beetlejuice or related characters, he belongs to Tim Burton. I do not own Beetlegeuse. I don't own Betelgeuse? I don't own any of the weird spellings for his name.

Betelgeuse?

Written By: Melanie Ray

Chapter Twenty: Strange Feelings

Lydia held BG in her arms tightly as BJ peeked around a corner tree. He wasn't going to zap away from Lydia for even a second, but he couldn't just juice her parents to them. They'd probably faint, and they didn't have the time to deal with fainting. "Your parents are still up." He pointed to their window light being on. "We don't have much time. We need to get your friends too. Knowing them, they'll take anyone you cared about." He drummed his fingers on the tree. "How do you want to do this, Lyd?"

She didn't have the luxury of thinking. Everything was at stake. "If I show up, they'll ask all kinds of questions. I'll never get a word in."

"I was afraid you'd say that." BJ said looking at himself. "I don't think they'll believe that I'm Mr. Beetleman now that I can't change from this age. Him bothering them in the middle of the night is suspicious enough."

"Every second counts, BJ."

"I know, I know." Okay, there wasn't time for a real good plan. He zapped himself as Mr. Beetleman. It would still work better than his original self. He zapped all three of them inside. Lydia was right outside her parents room with BG. BJ wouldn't risk being that far from her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Deetz," He yelled as loud as he could. "We need to talk about Lydia."

Charles and Delia both turned around. Charles was the most on the ball. "Mr. Beetleman, what are you doing here? Wait." He placed his finger to his mouth. "You're too young."

"Relative to Mr. Beetleman?" Delia asked. "What do you mean you have news about Lydia?"

"We already know about the school honor. We're her parents," Charles said matter-of-factly. "I mean, we were her parents." Delia pressed her hand on his shoulder.

No time. If there was just a little more, this could be nicer. "Lydia's alive. She wants to meet you, but you have to promise you won't faint or drown her in questions or she won't meet you." It was the best way he could think of to get them to cooperate.

"Lydia's alive?!"

"Promise, promise now. The offer isn't on the table long."

"This is a sick joke," Charles yelled. "Lydia is gone."

"If she's alive, yes," Delia shouted instead.

Tough, but that was the best he could get. BJ zapped him, Lydia, BG, Delia and Charles into the motel room again.

"Lyd . . . Lydia?" Her mother fumbled first. She went to hug her right away, asking what happened, where'd she been, and if she'd been hurt. "Is that him?" She rubbed BG's hair. "Pretty hair. What's his name? When was he born? Did you do okay during the birth? Did you record it?

"I don't have time. I'm sorry." It wasn't fair, but if Lydia didn't hurry it up, there wouldn't be time to save Bertha and Prudence. "I'm okay, mom. Dad." Her dad was still dumbstruck in the corner. "The truth is, I know who the father of BG is. I've known him a long time and so have you. It's not his fault though, he was always just a ghost friend. But this thing happened, and . . . and if you don't go over to the other side, you could be hurt."

"What are you talking about?" Delia asked.

"Well, better get this over with." Mr. Beetleman waved over at her. "Hi." He changed into Betty Juice. "Hello Mrs. Deetz." He zapped into his original black and white striped shirt. "I was a ghost that befriended your daughter. Apparently it was a part of a huge scheme, and now we have a kid together, and we are trying to prevent the end of the world sort of thing." It sounded cold to blurt it all out like that, but it was better than just sending them away with no knowledge at all.

"What the hell is going on here," Charles shouted as Delia fainted.

"I knew that'd happen." BJ looked over at Charles. "We'll have time to talk later, Mr. Deetz. Donny Juice will fill in the rest."

"Donny who? W-what?" Charles looked over at Lydia. "You're alive, and you had Mr. Beetleman's son?" He turned and glared back at BJ. "You rotten bastard, she was just a kid!"

"Dad, no!" Lydia yelled back as he tried to run at BJ. She watched as BJ didn't juice away or even duck. He even let her father smack him against the face.

"I trusted you near my family you son of a bitch!"

BJ finally zapped himself away, then zapped Donny in from outside. "Get them over to the neitherworld, pronto. Explain what you can, and don't let anything happen to them. Be back in two minutes."

Just like that, they were gone. A short visit with her mom, and BJ getting slapped by her dad. "Why'd you let him do that?"

"Got to get the other two," he answered. "We're cutting it close." He zapped them straight there. Bertha and Prudence were asleep in their beds. When Donny came back, BJ gestured toward them. Donny took them away.

And that was that. There wasn't even a chance to talk to her friends. Everything was so brief, but it had to be.

"The worst part is over," BJ answered. "I won't let anything else happen. Not to anyone. I promise, Babe. The cards they hold are gone now."

There was silence between them a second as BJ checked his wallet. "Ben-Ben didn't have much. Hm." He zapped his wallet. "Wow." He pulled out new money. It felt genuine. "I'm not supposed to be able to do that either." He chuckled. "This living thing ain't half bad. I can break all kinds of rules." Lydia wasn't smiling though, and he knew why. "One day you'll have all the time in the world with them."

"Yeah, but . . . dad slapped you. You let him slap you." She looked at BG. "I'm the one he should have slapped."

"Okay." He zapped the money away and then held his hands out toward her in a staying back motion. "No more of this. It is what it is." He took his hands and gestured toward BG. "It's born. The end. All that's left is to make sure it learns enough magic to keep that spell from working."

It? "He," Lydia said softly. "He's a he. Not an it."

"Well, yeah. He." He rubbed his head. "Dead guys don't really make good dads, Lyd."

It wasn't much simpler for her either. "So it's over."

"Yep. Nobody's going to screw around with me." He knocked on his own head. "Been making this as strong as temper steel too. No one, and I mean no one, is separating us again." He turned into a screw. "No one is going to screw with me and get away with it." He then changed into a bull. "No one's grabbing this bull by the horns."

Lydia chuckled softly. More politely than genuine, and he couldn't blame her.

He turned back to normal. "We'll hunker down for the night. Even if they find us, they won't get close enough to do anything." He meant that. He almost lost her, three times. Once because of Juno, once because he died, and once from her own oncoming death. No more.

Lydia looked around the motel room before she looked down at BG. "Should he go to sleep yet?"

"I can tell when he's sleeping because of the spell," BJ answered her. "He'll be fine." He zapped a black crib into the room with a purple quilt and beetles on it.

Lydia placed him gently in the crib. "Goodnight, BG. Don't worry. Life's going to be . . . fun. Lots of fun. You don't want to leave. Okay?" She was still worried as she tucked him in. Once she turned around though, the situation changed.

"I deserved it. That's why." BJ looked at his hands. "All my life I caused trouble for everybody, Lyd. It's who I am, but I never meant to hurt you. I didn't ever want any of this. I just wanted my friend."

"I know." Lydia almost choked. "You still have me, BJ. You're my friend til the end, and past." Yet, she couldn't help her eyes getting watery. "Beetlejuice."

"Hey, hey. It's okay now." He held his hands out to her and she came running towards them. He embraced her just as hard as she did him. "Don't have to turn gooey on me. Today's the first step to fighting this thing and getting your life back to normal." He rubbed her back.

Her presence was always comforting, but there was something different this time. As he held her, he felt a strange stirring he hadn't ever felt before. All he wanted to do was keep holding her.

Lydia knew what it was though. She knew she couldn't stay in the hug for long. Deny it or not, there was a different issue too. One she never even wanted to admit, or even think about, but it would come up.

Benny. Beetlejuice had taken over his reincarnation's life, but it was a joining. His power being stronger was a result of it, but there were . . .

/"How about another movie?" Benny asked as he put BG down for bed. "Tomorrow? Movie's are fun."

"I don't know, Benny," Lydia answered back. "We'll see."

"That's a no. Aren't you even going to reconsider?" Benny came up close to her. Closer than he should have. "One movie wouldn't hurt? Come on, we're young and we only live once. It makes sense, Kath. We're teens, we like movies and stupid celebrities. Let's go with the flow."

Lydia sighed. Not again. No, not Beetlejuice. She would go with BJ any time of day or night, anywhere in the world or neitherworld. Stop it, she commanded her heart. This was not BJ. He looked like him, he acted like him, but he was not him. Even thinking they were the same person made her feel like a traitor. "No."

"It's going to be boring tomorrow. Nothing on TV, but alright." Benny shrugged his shoulders and gave her a hug. "Let me know if you change your mind, okay?"

"Uh." Lydia pushed him back slightly. "Not likely."

"Oh. Uh." Benny just chuckled. "Sorry. It's got a mind of it's own." He winked at her. "Social graces don't affect it, it knows what it likes." He waved buy to BG and then to her. "See ya, Kath."

Lydia's cheeks were warm throughout the whole hug. Definitely not BJ./

Lydia pulled away from Beetlejuice's embrace. "We should probably get some sleep." She didn't look toward him. It wasn't his fault, it was Benny's body after all.

"What?" BJ held his hands back out to her. "You sure you don't need more than a five second hug? You held me longer in the car."

Lydia remembered that. She had held him in the car and there was no awkward physical response. He had just taken over Benny's body though. He didn't even realize what had happened. "I'm fine. I think after tonight, I just need some rest."

"Oh." He scratched his head. "It probably has been a hard night for you. For both of us actually." He raised his eyebrow, wondering about the strange sensation he was feeling. "Anyhow, rest it is." He faked a yawn, which evolved into a real yawn. "Guess I'm tired too." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Which side you want, Babe? Left or right?"

That question made her fidget until she saw him zap another bed in the room. Of course not sides, this is BJ. BJ, not Benny! "Right's fine."

"Right you are then."

Huh? Lydia looked back toward BJ. At the beginning of the charade, BJ had used Benny's voice until it had been safe, but then he used his own usual voice. Why did he use Benny's voice again?

"Right." BJ cleared his throat. Great, now he couldn't change his voice. "Aw, what the hell?" He played with his adam's apple, but it was no use. He sounded like Benny now. "First I couldn't change my age, and now my voice?" He groaned. "Reincarnation. You know I hate it."

Benny's voice. One of BJ's catchphrases. It almost brought tears back to her eyes. "BJ, what about Benny? He had a life. He had a mom."

"He's me," is all BJ said. "Besides, Ben-Ben was also your age. High time he left the comfort of a boring cul-de-sac and nagging mom."

How did he know Benny's mom nagged him? They are becoming one. Awkward. Benny had liked her more than a friend, but BJ was her best friend. Lydia wouldn't admit it to herself, but she knew something else. Those feelings . . . hadn't exactly been one-sided. He looked like BJ. He acted like BJ. Just . . . more alive and my age and, no. I can't think about this. Beetlejuice is the dominant one. This'll be fine.

That's when she realized BJ was staring at her. Oops.

"Ben-Ben never should have existed, so just forget it." BJ spread his arms out in a dismissing manner. "No way am I letting him have this body back and leaving you out there unprotected with a kid. And, if he really was me and knew you, then he'd get it too. Stop feeling guilty." He launched himself on the left bed and stretched his arms out comically. "Let's just get some rest. No telling what tomorrow brings, Babe."

Lydia went over to her side of the bed and looked back at BG. He had an odd smile on his face. He never slept with a smile. BJ may not make dad of the year, but at least he knows how to make his son smile.