Cinnamon and vanilla; The two warm smells always took his breath away, and not because he was a disgusting monster who only liked unpleasant odors and would on regular occasions gag at the mention of anything pleasant. They took his breath away, because they were her favorite smells, and every time he sat behind the mirror he could tell if she was home or not by the crisp waft of her perfume and shampoo. If heaven existed (he'd seen no evidence that proved it) then those smells and her presence would be his.

Sadly, she wasn't home, and it left the room smelling like the rest of the home; Delia's god damn candles. Red fingers pressed against the mirror and green eyes scanned the room for his babes. Nothing; Lydia had become so occupied with whatever she was doing after school these days that Beetlejuice would have to wait until midnight to see her, and by then she was too tired to speak with him or let him out. To say he hardly got to see her was a massive understatement.

He sighed and leaned against the mirror with a growl. "Come on, babes… I'm dying of boredom in here… and you aren't even here to say something like 'but you're already dead, BJ.'" He mocked her voice while changing himself into a crudely formed, rather hideous looking Beetle-Lydia. The ghost changed himself back and reclined in midair with an aggravated snarl.

"Where are you?" He questioned.

As if on cue, Lydia's bedroom door opened. He grinned to see his friend come storming into her room, a look of hate gracing her pale features. Beetlejuice flinched at the nasally voice of Delia sounding furiously from downstairs.

"I'm already in my room!" Lydia yelled back, slamming her door and storming over to flop down face first onto her bed.

"Does she ever shut up?" Beetlejuice chuckled from behind the glass, grinning kindly at the raven haired teen. Lydia lifted her head and looked at him, surprised to hear his voice.

"Bj." Lydia mumbled with a smile, getting up from her bed to go over to smile into her dresser mirror.

"What's the scoop with the parentals, huh? Someone piss on their stoop? Run over their mailbox? Insult their lawn decorations?" He jokingly tapped the mirror. "Because I've done all three and I've never heard them this furious."

Lydia laughed half-heartedly, resting her chin in her hands. "They're just being stupid, BJ. I hate it when they get like this."

"You know the cure, babes. Just say it thrice and I'm there." Beetlejuice cracked his knuckles and rolled up his jacket sleeves. A sleezy grin spread across his face at the sound of her laughter. It always warmed his undead heart to hear her happy.

"Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!" She stepped back and allowed room for him to hop out of the mirror.

As he stepped out, he could see her clearly (vision through the mirror wasn't exactly the best… in fact the image was nearly always fuzzy for him.)

She wore a long sleeved red blouse under a black vest, and hip hugging black skinny jeans that tucked so neatly into her combat boots that they almost looked like leggings. Her hair and bangs had grown out from their girly bob cut, and now fell to her shoulders with the bangs brushed to the left over her eye. Her lipstick was dark-cherry red and smoky black eye shadow enhanced her brown eyes. She was a babe at 18, for sure, and she'd filled the age out nicely. She wasn't tall and lanky like Bertha, or short and stout like Prudence… just in the middle, with healthy curves and some smoking legs (in Beetle's opinion.)

"You're pretty spiffed up for just coming home from school." He teased, shoving his hands into his pockets. "What's the occasion?"

Lydia blushed lightly at his complement. "Oh, just a little get together… that mom and dad refuse to let me go to."

Beetlejuice chuckled and shook his head with a sigh "hehe… Ah, the age of rebellion… I remember it fondly, even though I never really grew out of it. Listen, Lyds, you're getting to be, well, older now, and in order to get whatcha want, you gotta learn to damn well take it."

Lydia smiled and looked away with a giggle.

He eyed her and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"That's the first time you've ever cussed around me."

Beetlejuice blinked and thought for a moment. Wow, he didn't even remember when he'd decided he wouldn't cuss around her… probably a while ago, when she was younger.

Now that she was much more mature and, quite frankly, one hell of a Bombshell, he guessed it didn't really matter how bad of a sailor-mouth he was. "See? You're an adult now… even I can see that."

"You know what? You're right!"

"Aren't I always?" Beej reclined on her bed with a successful grin.

"I'm old enough to do whatever I want."

"You said it, Lyds."

Lydia grinned wickedly. "I'm almost out of high school… I'm legally old enough to do pretty much anything."

"Yea-wait… what?"

"And I'm an adult now! I'm responsible enough to party with anyone I want. I mean, did mom and dad think they could shelter me from guys forever? I'm not some naïve little girl."

"Guys? Wait a sec, babes-" Beetlejuice sat up from the bed, eyeing her with slight alarm.

"And I'll be with Bertha and Prude! I'm going to that party and if Delia doesn't like it, she can kiss my ass."

"Lyds just wait one sec-"

"Oh, Beej thanks for the pep talk! You know just what to say… could you hand me my spider brooch?" She asked, fixing her hair in the mirror.

Beetlejuice grabbed the pin and held it in his palm for a second before it was snatched away. "Babes, I understand that you-"

"Thanks, BJ. Oh, I need to put on some more eyeliner. Toby said he'd be here at ten to pick-"

"Who's Toby!" He tapped her shoulder, but his hand was shrugged away by the goth who busily reapplied her makeup.

"Toby Adams, silly. Remember? I told you about him-"

"No, you most certainly did NOT tell me about him." Beetlejuice snapped, stepping towards her with his fists clenched at his sides.

"Okay, so I forgot to tell you. Chill out. He's just a friend."

"Yeah, just a friend who's a guy with a car and is picking you up at ten and taking you to a party with other guys… am I the only one seeing something wrong in this picture?"

Lydia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly! There'll be other girls there, too… not JUST guys."

"That isn't the point, Lydia!" The ghost barked, crossing his arms.

"Uhm, what's your problem? Just a second ago you were telling me to go, be rebellious… and now you've got a problem with it?"

Lydia eyed Beetlejuice as he shuffled his feet uncomfortably and bit his lip to keep from saying something.

"…Beetlejuice, is this because I haven't visited the Neitherworld in awhile? Look, we talked about this. I'm getting too old to go there… I have friends now, and people will actually notice when I just go missing-"

Beetlejuice stomped his foot and growled in a tone she'd never heard from him before. "It's not about that! If you'd shut your fucking yap for a sec, I could actually tell you that you're acting like a bitch!" The glass in the mirror behind Lydia shattered and she crumpled to the ground in fear, squeaking at her friend's rage.

The striped ghost blinked away the white hot anger boiling behind his eyes and looked down at the raven haired goth girl, cowering and looking up at him. She was afraid of him... A worried expression crossed his face, and his voice came out quietly. "Babes, I didn't-"

"Leave me alone Beetlejuice." She mumbled, tears threatening to pour down her face.

"Lyds, I'm-"

"I said leave me alone, Beetlejuice!"

Beetlejuice flinched at hearing his name a second time. His name formed once more on her lips, and she almost said it, but a car horn sounded from outside. She stood up and went to the window, leaving the ghost in her bedroom to his thoughts and the silence.

He heard her climb down the side of the house, and he heard the car take off down the road. Beetlejuice looked into the shattered remains of the mirror and glared. "You fucking idiot!" He snarled, kicking the dresser and running his fingers through his hair.

What was wrong with him?

Well, multiple things.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with a groan. "Good job, Ghost with The Most… You fuel up her self-confidence, massaged her ego, and then you turn into a jealous douche." The ghost sat on her bed, pressing his face into his hands.