The Misadventures Of THE BEETLEJUICE.... And Company

by Catelia

Summary:

It’s been years since Beetlejuice had gone back to the world of the living, summoned or not, and he wasn’t sure what he should expect. Hell knows that he hadn’t gotten what he expected when he went back to the Netherworld. Even so, the last thing he would have thought to happen is picking up a child off the street, let alone a demon. Now he’s stuck, taking care of the girl he has no idea how to raise…

Lydia spent the rest of her teenage years recovering from what happened with that cursed demon, and the start of her adult life creating a normal life for herself. She’s taken over the house, and the only thing she wants to have to do with the supernatural world is living with the Maitlands. But of course that all comes crashing down when someone shows up unannounced at the door…

Chapter 1: This time we don’t start in a graveyard

The sky is a dark gray, and the pathway he walks along is littered with puddles, but he really doesn’t mind them. It’s not like stepping in the muddy water will have any effect on him or his clothes. And even if it did, it couldn’t make anything worse.

He weaves through the crowd as he walks, letting himself pretend that he could run into him. That if he did, they’d  notice him.

This was what Beetlejuice has been doing since he left the Netherworld, just wandering, aimless and alone.

“And that’s how it’s going to stay. Or so I’m told.” BJ grumbles, hands shoved deep in the pockets of his long coat.

His shoulders are slumped, and he shakes his head, kicking the  ground as he continues to avoid the breathers around him on the crowded park path.

The world around him is dark, and the flora has started to turn orange, but everything just looks muted to him, so the girl in the torn brown dress really shouldn’t have stand out to BJ, but from the corner of his eye, he spots her, sitting incredibly still on a bench, tattered clothes, matted purple hair, and shaking limbs. He doesn’t even need to see the child's vibrantly colored eyes to tell that she’s a demon, he just knows.

He pauses, staring at the girl. No one else is paying her any mind, so she isn’t summoned, and is invisible, just like him.

Without another thought he walks over to her, clearing his throat to try and get her attention.

Slowly she lifts her head, her eyes vacant and glazed over.

“Hey, Kid, you need to get back to the Netherworld. This realm isn’t some hang out spot for demons, y’know?” He leans over her as he speaks, but all she does is keep eye contact, watching him.

“How’d you even get here anyways?” He asks, his voice lowering as he continues. “I know I closed the door behind me, and demons aren’t allowed to carry chalk on them without a license.”

The girl doesn’t respond, only continuing to stare at BJ.

“Are you here alone?” He asks.

Again, she just stares at him blankly.

“Oh for the love of-” His voice comes out as more of a growl as he pulls back, getting more and more annoyed. “Fine, just stay here while I go and find your parents so they can deal with you.”

The kid starts violently shaking her head in response, her eyes squeezed shut, and her hands gripping the edge of the bench.

BJ pauses, looking at the girl. He can see how scared she is, and he recognizes it as a type of fear he had felt himself many times before.

Shaking his head, he walks away.

It’s not his problem, someone else can deal with her.

The girl shouldn’t matter to him, he doesn’t know her.

He drags his hand down his face, groaning as he turns around, walking back to the bench.

“Hey,” He says.

The girl doesn’t look up this time.

“Hey ya little brat, I’m talking to you.”

Shaking, she looks up at him, tears streaking the mud on her cheeks.

“You don’t want to just stay on this bench for the rest of your life, do you?”

She shakes her head.

“And you don’t have anywhere to go, right?”

She nods at him.

“And I’m sure you want someone who can make sure your parents will never find you.”

She nods emphatically, eyes widening.

BJ waits one more moment before speaking, making up his mind. There won’t be an easy way out of this if it turns out to be a bad idea, but he can’t leave her here alone.

He can’t leave her the way he was left.

“Then come on, you can tag along.”

He turns to walk, and the child hesitates for a moment, before he looks over his shoulder.

“What are you waiting for, let’s go.”

Her face breaks into a smile, and she hops off the park bench, practically running to his side.

BJ glances down at her, and can’t help but give her a smile as he reaches down and ruffles her hair.

Notes:

Thank you for reading the first chapter of this fic! I've worked so hard on this, and am so very excited to post this first chapter!

Thank you to everyone who's helped me make this happen, I could not do this without you, seriously, thank you so much.

Updates may be sporadic, but there should be a lot for a while. Just bookmark it or check in on it, I can't promise a schedule, it'll just depend on how I feel.

See you next chapter!!!

Chapter 2: The Child likes puddles, apparently

The sky had finally started to clear, so BJ pulled his coat off of the girl's head.

It’s not as if either of them could get wet from the rain, but the kid had gotten scared from the water suddenly falling from the sky.

Beetlejuice can’t blame the kid. It’s obvious by her reaction to the living world over the past few weeks that she’s spent her whole life so far in the Netherworld. The clouds leaking would throw anyone off guard who’s only been surrounded by nothingness for all their existence.

He had been the same way when he first found his way to the breathers’ realm, darting for cover at the first drop of rain, hiding from the sun, and being enamored by the lights and sounds, even as they were dulled down to him.

The girl has her hand gripping BJ’s pants, and is doing her best to match his stride as they walk down the street together, cars rushing past them in the midday rush.

He wasn’t leading her anywhere specific, he doesn’t have anywhere he really can take her, but he knows from experience that it’s better to stay moving, to be too busy to really stop and think.

“How ya holding up Kid?” BJ asks, glancing down at her.

The girl doesn’t respond, but just looks up at him, with a reserved smile, and a light in her eyes that he knows wasn’t there when he first met her.

“I’ll take that as you’re good enough to keep going.” He says, chuckling.

The girl gives a soft nod, and they continue on, the sun dancing in and out of the clouds.

Beetlejuice isn’t used to having company, and doubly not used to being around people for a long period of time. But now he’s with someone who needs him to survive. There’s no getting out of this, they’re stuck together now.

Not that BJ is complaining, but he wishes that she’d just say something. Even though he gets it, the silence still hurts his head. The quiet always does that to him.

He looks down at her, seeing her tiny shaking hands, and the way she’s constantly cowering, and he feels a pang of guilt. The kid’s going through some shit, she can take as long as she needs to regain her voice.

“Hey Kid?”

She looks up at him once more, bright eyes wide.

“You’re doing good, keep it up.”

She smiles at him once more, then starts skipping next to him, avoiding the puddles, and still holding onto his pant leg.

BJ lets out a soft sigh, and looks up towards the sky, willing for the clouds to scatter and leave. Hoping for them to give the little girl dodging the puddles a clear and beautiful day.

Notes:

Thank you for reading this chapter!

And yes, the chapters do get longer.

Chapter 3: Some things are even scary to those raised in the Netherworld. And one of those things is spiders

Notes:

Warning for spiders, if you couldn't tell from the title

Beetlejuice yawns, leaning his head against the bark of the tree, halfheartedly watching as the girl looks around the forest, exploring the greenery.

They had been walking a path that wound through a small wooded area, when BJ had decided to stop for a small break, since they’ve been going mostly nonstop for the past few days.

He observes the surroundings as the kid jumps up, trying to reach a branch above her head.

“Be careful Kiddo!” BJ calls as she jumps once more, then nods.

He just shakes his head with a smile. The more time the kid spends in this realm, the more happy, and well, like a normal kid she seems. He can’t help but hope that part of the reason that is, more than just being away from the nothingness, is 0him taking her in, and showing her around. Maybe seeing that not everyone is evil and going to hurt her is helping.

A shriek jolts him out of his thoughts, and he looks to see the girl stumbling away from a small spider, before tripping on a tree root, and falling to the ground.

In the next moment BJ is away from the tree and bolting towards the child on the ground, reaching her, and seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, picks her up off the ground, and holds her at his side, before strutting away from the spiderweb, and back out of the forest.

“See? The creepy crawly is all gone now, no need to worry.” He says.

The girl only buries her face into BJ’s coat, not looking around her, or even at him.

“Hey, Kid,” He starts, gently pulling her face away from the jacket, making her look at him. “You’re alright now, nothing can hurt you, Mr. Beebleboose is going to make sure of that. You have nothing to worry about now.”

The girl does her best to give him a smile, wavering as it is, and he ruffles her hair with a soft chuckle, before setting her down next to him.

“You good to go on now?” Beetlejuice asks her.

She slips her small hand into his, before giving him a nod, and walking forward, leading him back into the forest.

Chapter 4: The car is a super ugly brown by the way, but it’s what was available

The air is chilly as it whips past him, continuing to carry his tie up to his face, where it proceeds to whack him, and hit him in the eye.

“This is what I get for hitching a ride on the freeway instead of taking the scenic route.” BJ grumbles under his breath, making sure to stay quiet enough as to not disturb the child curled up asleep next to him.

He shoves his tie into his shirt before laying his arms behind his head once more, going back to staring at the stars as they flash by.

“This whole thing is ridiculous. You have a kid curled up in your jacket, BJ, why did you think you could take care of another conscious being?” He vents to himself and the stars, shaking his head. “You’re not responsible enough to do this yourself. You shouldn’t even care enough to take care of the brat, what is wrong with you?”

He’s silent for a few more moments, just letting the wind whistle past, and the darkness engulf him as they leave the city behind.

“Besides, a kid doesn’t deserve to be raised by someone who only fucks things up.”

BJ runs a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut. This is such a pain.

He opens his eyes once more, not finding any rest in the darkness, and looks at the girl curled up at his side, his gaze softening.

Maybe she is going to be a pain to deal with, but he can’t just abandon her, leaving her on the side of the road, not now. Not after giving her hope, and taking her in.

If someone had promised him rescue and protection when he was a kid, and then just left him with nothing, it would have absolutely destroyed him, and he just can’t do that to her.

He lets out a yawn, stretching before turning on his side, watching the trees zip past as they head to god knows where.

She needs someplace to go, people who can actually take care of her, teach her good and bad, and how to keep people around her. She needs a family. And he isn’t one.

The scenery around him starts to blur as his consciousness starts to drift, and he shifts once more to try to get comfortable.

There has to be someplace he can take her. Some people that know how to properly raise and take care of a kid. Kind, good people. The kind of people that he isn’t.

As his eyes start to shut, one thought sneaks into his head. An idea of the perfect people to be her family.

He knows it might not work. He’s aware that there’s a high likelihood that since he’s the one asking, they’ll just say no. But there really is no one else. It’s worth it to at least try.

At least that’s what he’s telling himself.

Notes:

The last chapter was SUPER short, so here, have one a day after I posted that, my special treat

And thanks for reading!!

Chapter 5: Someone FINALLY decides to show up

The morning has been gray so far, and Lydia is still wiping the sleep out of her eyes as she sips her morning coffee.

Life had been quiet for her over the past few years. She went through high school, graduated, started online college, and has done her best to stay under the radar.

Her life by no means has been easy, but nothing compared to what happened when she first moved here, so she can’t complain.

She blows over the rim of the mug in her hands, cooling her coffee down before taking another drink of it.

She can hear Adam and Barbara upstairs, laughing and chatting away, and she can’t help but smile. They’ve become so happy living, or, well, being dead here, and she can’t imagine her life without them now, they’re a crucial part of her family.

Besides that, the house is quiet, and Lydia takes another sip of her co-

“Knock knock!” A gravelly voice calls from outside the front door.

Lydia almost spits her drink out, startling at the sound. She sets her mug on the counter, wiping her mouth with a napkin, before heading towards the door.

Who the hell is knocking on her door at 9:30 on a Tuesday morning?

With a shake of her head, she reaches for the doorknob, opens it, and is greeted by a shock of purple hair, strips, and a yellowed smile.

“Hiya Lyds, how’s it going?”

SLAM

Lydia presses her back against the door, gripping her chest and breathing heavily.

This cannot be happening. No way this is real.

“Come on Scarecrow, open up!” BJ calls through the door.

She squeezes her eyes shut, shaking her head, before reaching behind her, locking the door, and stumbling towards the kitchen.

“Lydiaaaaa!”

“Go away!” She yells back, voice tense.

For a moment there’s no response, then suddenly Beetlejuice’s face appears in the window, arms crossed, chin resting on his sleeves, and eyes fixated on her.

“Let me inside, pleeeaaasseee!” He says, stretching out the last word in a sing-songy way.

“Never.” She says, backed up to the counter, holding up her middle finger to the window.

He sticks his lower lip out, and traces a tear on his cheek, before laughing, and calling through the window once more.

“Come on Kid, I just want to talk! I came all this way, please just open the door!”

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t just tell you to fuck off!”

He looks at her for a moment, and she can see the gears turning in his head, before he ducks down, disappearing for a moment.

She lets out a sigh of relief, hoping he’s gone, before his face pops up once more, and he’s holding up a small, dirty, lavender haired girl.

“I got a kid now!” He yells through the window.

Lydia’s eyes widen, and she pushes off the counter, rushing to the door, throwing it open, and running outside, standing fully braced, facing him as he steps away from the window.

“Why on earth do you have a child?!” She yells at him.

He shrugs, a smile on his face, and sets the girl down next to him.

“I picked her up a couple months ago, and she’s stuck with me ever since.” He responds.

Lydia can only shake her head, absolutely baffled.

“Soooo,” He starts, before waltzing past her and entering the house, the kid following right behind him. “Thanks for opening the door Lyds!”

She groans, slumping her shoulders and walking after BJ, closing the door behind her. She just watches him for a moment, as he looks around him, observing the house and its newer decor.

Then with a deep breath, Lydia walks right up to Beetlejuice, standing a bit over his eye level, hands on her hips.

“What do you want? Why are you here?” She asks him, and he takes a step back before responding.

“What, can someone not just visit their friend?” He asks, not making eye contact.

“Well you sure can’t.” She bites back.

He rolls his eyes, and slips past her, settling into a chair, and propping his shoes up on her dining table.

“Fine, fine.” BJ says with a sigh. “I want to make a deal.”

Chapter 6: Let’s try: Negotiating

“You think I’d ever make a deal with you? Ha, you must be out of your goddamned mind.”

Beetlejuice watches the girl in front of him. Gosh how quickly breathers change.

Gone is the young girl, clad in all black, now there’s an adult in front of him, wearing high waisted orange ombre pants, a black shirt with a gold necklace, hair half tied back with the ends bleached, and still the same confident demeanor he remembers her with.

“Oh calm down,” He says, waving his hand. “It’s not as if I’m about to ask you to summon me or anything like that.”

Lydia crosses her arms, sliding into the chair across from BJ.

“Even so, I’d be an idiot to trust you.” She bites back.

BJ mimics her, crossing his arms as well, and then recrossing his legs, switching which is on top, for extra emphasis.

“Come on Lyds, at least hear me out.”

She lets out a sigh.
“Fine. But don’t expect anything from me.” She says with a glare.

BJ flashes her a sharp toothed grin, before swinging his legs down, and leaning forward, arms on the table, chin held in his gloved hands, girl half hiding behind his chair.

“I have this kid now, right? Right. And we both know that I can’t raise a kid.” He starts, gesturing his hands as he speaks. “So do you think the Maitlands would be willing to raise the girl?”

Lydia stares at him for a moment.

“So you want to shove your new found responsibility off on them?”

He shrugs.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“And why do you think I’d let you do that?”

“Yes. Because if you do this, when you die, I’ll be your guide to the Netherworld.”

“You think I want you to be the one who takes me to the Netherworld?”

Beetlejuice sighs.

“Listen, I got really good at finding people in the Netherworld, so if you take this deal, when you finally kick the bucket, I can find your Mom and take you to her.”

Lydia’s quiet for a moment, not showing BJ any emotions. He starts tapping his fingers against his beard, impatient for a response. Eventually just letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Please don’t make me beg again Kid.” He says. “I’ll do it if you want, if that’s what it takes.”

“No no, I definitely don’t want that.” She says, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Then what do I need to do for you to say yes?”

“What you need to do is explain why you’re trying to do this in the first place! It’s so unlike you to care so much about someone else, so I’m sorry that it confuses me!” She snaps, slamming her fist down on the table, startling the girl, who jumps farther behind Beetlejuice.

“I told you that already, you just refuse to believe that it’s why I’m here!” He growls back. “The kid needs someone to raise her, and to do it right. I can’t do that! Hell, it’s probably bad for the girl that she’s been around me for this long already. The Maitlands are the best people I know, if anyone can show that kid the love and care she deserves, it’s them.”

Lydia falls silent once again, and BJ runs his hands through his tinted red hair, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down, his hair slowly turning back to purple.

“‘M sorry.” He mumbles, before turning around and looking at the kid. “That’s what we call ‘Losing Our Temper’, and that’s bad, you should do your very best to avoid doing that.” Then BJ looks up at nothing in particular. “It’s also what we call, Dear Reader, damaging to our cause.”

He shifts back in his seat, facing forward once again to see Lydia shaking her head at him.

“Fine.” She says, standing up with a sigh. “I’ll go get Adam and Barbara. But the decision is theirs.”

As she reaches the staircase she pauses, looking over her shoulder after a moment.

“And just so we’re clear, I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing it for the kid.”

Chapter 7: And now enters the Maitlands

BJ has his arm crossed, and his leg bouncing, by the time that Adam and Barbara finally come downstairs. They both look surprised to see him, Barbara even takes a step backwards.

“Adam! Babs! How have you two been? Ghost life treating you well?” BJ asks them, a wide grin plastered on his face.

“Uh, Beetlejuice, hi. We’re doing… well.” Barbara says, obviously taken aback by the whole situation.

Adam nods along with her. “Yes, what she said.”

BJ lets out a cackle in response.

“Y’know, I had figured Lyds would’ve warned you instead of sending the two of you down here absolutely blind.” He says, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“I thought it was better that they saw for themselves.” Lydia responds, appearing behind the two ghosts, walking behind them down the stairs.

“Well, tadaa.” He says, holding up jazz hands.

“Lydia, didn’t you mention something about a kid?” Barbara asks as she reaches the floor, doing her best to ignore him.

She gestures towards the table.
“She’s been hiding behind the demon this whole time. I’m sure he’s more than willing to introduce you.” She says, walking over to the chair at the head of the table and sitting down.

Both Maitlands tentatively approach the table. Adam is the first to take a seat, sitting nervously across from BJ, and Barbara sits next to him, holding his hand.

Beetlejuice turns in his chair, looking down at the girl trying to hide behind him.

“Hey, Kiddo, it’s time to meet some really nice people.” He says, his voice soft.

She shakes her head, not meeting his eyes.

He sighs and picks her, setting her on his lap, facing him.

“Listen Kid, I know new people are scary, but I know them, they’re good people, and I trust them. Everything is going to be okay, I promise. They won’t hurt you.” He glances up at them, before looking back at the child. “I don’t think they’re even capable of it.”

The kid takes a deep breath before nodding.

BJ smiles at her, and then turns her around in his lap. Both of the ghosts across from him smiling at the grungy child in front of them.

“Hi Sweety, I’m Adam,” He says, pointing to himself, then pointing to his wife. “And this is Barbara.”

“And we’re so happy to meet you.” She chimes in.

The girl looks at them, a bit bewildered, before looking up at Beetlejuice.

“Can she talk?” Lydia asks softly.

BJ shrugs.

“She hasn’t said anything since I’ve been with her.” He responds, hand on the top of her head.

“That’s alright, we don’t mind.” Barbara says, still looking at the small girl.

Adam nods, smiling.

“Good!” BJ says, a little bit too loudly and cheerily. “Glad you’ll take the demon girl!”

Everyone at the table, Lydia and the girl included, blink, staring at him. He just ignores them, standing up, and setting the kid in his seat.

“Alright, see ya later!” He calls as he walks towards the door.

“I’m sorry, what?” Adam squeaks out, confused.

“What about the girl?” Barbara calls after him.

“She’s your responsibility now.” He replies with a shrug, turning around one last time to see them.

Lydia’s sitting, arms crossed, just shaking her head. Adam’s looking between the girl and BJ. Barbara is staring daggers at him. And the kid… Beetlejuice can’t make himself look her in her tear filled eyes as she watches him leave.

He waves his hand and he reaches behind him, swinging the door open.

“Byeeee!” He says, backing through the door with a crazed smile.

Chapter 8: Why you gotta try to give her the most boring ass name?

They all sit, stunned into silence, not moving for quite a few moments.

“What just happened?” Adam asks, voice full of confusion.

“I think he just bailed on us, leaving the kid here.” Lydia replies, trying to remain calm, even as she’s absolutely fuming at the whole ordeal.

She should have seen this coming. Why the hell did she think for a moment that she could trust him? It should have been obvious to her that he would shove his responsibility onto them, not giving the kid a second thought.

And she just can’t understand why he picked the kid up in the first place. Sure, he’s a lonely bastard who just wants people to notice him, but genuinely taking care of another person? Without it really benefiting him? Even though he only did it for a little bit, it still baffles her that he was capable of it.

“Well, we should make the best of this situation.” Barbara says, before turning towards the girl. “Do you have a name Sweety?”

The kid doesn’t look at her, only staring forward, her expression completely blank, exactly as she’s been since she turned back around from the door.

“She’s probably in shock.” Adam observes, sympathy laced in his voice.

“We can’t just keep calling you Kid, there has to be something else we can use.” Says Lydia, who’s slouched in her chair at this point.

The child still only ignores her, and she can’t help but pity the poor girl.

“Maybe,” Barbara starts. “We could give her a name?”

At this the girl finally looks up, giving a small nod.

“Perfect!” Adam says with a clap. “How about… Jane?”

The girl shakes her head.

“Maybe Pam?” Barbara suggests with a shrug.

She shakes her head hard.

“Kathy?”

“Suezie?”

“Debbie?”

“Brittney?”

She shakes her head to all of them.

Lydia sighs, sitting up in her chair.

“Maybe she’d like something less boring?” She says. “Like, Freya, or something like that?”

At this the child starts nodding, and for the first time since entering the house, she smiles softly.

Adam blinks for a second, before smiling.

“So you like Freya?”

The girl, Freya, nods once more.

“It’s a lovely name!” Barbara exclaims. “Fantastic choice!”

Freya smiles at the two of them, and then at Lydia, who all smile back at her.

“Since that’s all sorted,” Says Adam as he starts to stand up. “Shall we give Miss Freya a tour of the house?”

Barbara jumps up after him.

“Oh yes, we should!”

They both approach the other side of the table, and Adam pulls the chair away from the table, while Barbara holds her hand out.

Freya hesitates for a moment before taking her hand and jumping off the seat.

The Maitlands look at each other, then smile. Adam takes his place next to his wife, and they start to lead Freya through the living room, Adam already stopping them to talk about the crown molding and the building material of the walls.

Chapter 9: Someone gets a phone call from Daddy

Lydia lets out a sigh as she dumps the rest of her coffee into the sink. God what a stupidly chaotic morning it’s been. She really hadn’t seen any of this coming, and that just frustrates her. She can’t help but feel, deep down, that she should have been prepared.

Sure, who would expect an emotionally unstable demon from your past to come back and dump the responsibility of a child onto you and your family? But that doesn’t stop her from kicking herself inside for letting this all happen.

Lydia jumps slightly as she feels a vibration in her pocket. She pulls her phone out, looking at the caller ID before answering and holding the device to her ear.

“Daaad, hiii.” She stretches out her words with a twinge of nervousness in her voice.

“Hello! How has it been at the house?” Charles asks through the speaker.

Lydia bites her lip before answering, unsure of how to answer the question. Before this morning everything had been going great. But now…. Now her life has been turned on its head.

“Oh, you know, it’s been alright. A little hiccup this morning, but everything’s okay.” She says, a fake smile in her tone. “It’ll all be alright.”

“What happened?! Is everything alright?!” Her Dad asks, panicked. “Do I need to come home?!”

“No no, I’ve got it handled!” She responds. “You and Delia continue enjoying your retirement, alright, don’t worry about me.”

“I may be retired, but I can still come back home and help my little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl anymore Dad.”

“But you will always be that to me.”

“I just rolled my eyes so hard, you wouldn’t believe it.”

Charles sighs on the other end of the call.

“Can I at least visit soon?”

“You know you are welcomed anytime. Delia too”

“Good good. See you soon Lydia.”

“Yeah, see you Dad. Love you.”

“I love you too.”

Click

Lydia slouches against the counter. It’s 11:40 in the morning, and she’s already exhausted from the events of the day, and for all she knows, it’s only getting started.

Chapter 10: Wow, I feel so loved here, not offended at aaaalllll.

“And this is the spare bedroom.” Adam says, proudly putting his hands on his hips as he shows off his house. “And it’s the room that you’ll be staying in, if Barbara can convince Lydia. If not, you can stay in the attic with us!”

Freya just looks up at him, and then around at the mostly plain room. She’s obviously still dazed from everything that’s happened, and Adam can’t help but pity her.

“I know it’s a bit boring right now,” He says, rocking on his heels a bit. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to decorate it to suit your liking. Lydia would probably even be willing to help with that.”

Freya nods slightly, seeming disconnected from what he’s saying. Adam clears his throat, and is saved from the awkwardness by Barbara opening the door.

“Hi, I’m going to steal Adam for a moment, we’ll be right back Sweety.” Barbara says while grabbing his sleeve and pulling him out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

“What did she say?” Adam asks, keeping his voice low as to not let the girl on the other side of the door hear their conversation.

“Lydia says she’s fine with her staying in the guest room, and that she can use anything in the house, if…” Barbara’s voice trails off.

“If?” Adam presses.

Barbara takes a deep breath in, letting it out before continuing.

“She wants to make sure we actually want to raise her.” She starts. “She says that if we don’t want to, she’ll find a way of getting him back here to take her.”

“Well of course we want her!” Adam says, his voice raising a bit.

“That’s what I told her.” Barbara replies, shushing him. “But she still wanted me to talk to you.”

“Well tell her yes. We can’t leave her to that maniac Beetlejuice.” He responds.  “Who knows what would happen to her if she stayed with him any longer.”

They both let out a shudder, remembering what happened when they first met him, how chaotic and disconcerting he was.

“Good thing we’ll never have to find that out.” Barbara says.

Adam giving her a firm nod.

“She may be a demon, but she deserves to be raised by two loving parents.” He says.

Barbara nods as well, before letting out a sigh.

“I still just can’t believe he left like that.” She says.

“It was insane!” He responds. “I mean, I know that man’s unpredictable, but I thought he would have tried to stay here with the kid.”

“I know!” She says, agreeing with him. “It's like he just dropped her at our doorstep, but with extra steps.”

“I’ll never understand him and what he does.” Adam comments, shaking his head.

“I’d be worried if you did.” Barbara says with a chuckle.

They finally make their way towards the stairs.

“Shall we go tell Lydia our decision?” Adam asks, gesturing towards the steps.

“Yes we shall.” She replies, taking his hand, and starting down the stairs together.

Chapter 11: Wow. I feel really loved here. And really, really bad too.

Freya sits at the edge of the strangers’ bed. No, it’s soon to be her bed. And they aren’t strangers. They’re Lydia, and Adam, and Barbara. She has to remind herself.

She grips the gray blanket, failing to hold back her tears. How could he do this to her? She trusted him. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

He had been kind to her. He had shown her this new, strange world. The world she had heard about on the rare occasions her parents took her out where the ghosts were. She had dreamed of this world. It had been her escape. And yet, when she finally did make it out, she had been paralyzed. Just absolutely overwhelmed. She couldn’t do anything.

And then he showed up. He was like her. The ratty clothes, the wild hair. And he had seen her! He really saw her! She thought he had found her hero. Someone to finally protect and take care of her.

But then he left her, shoved her off to someone else and abandoned her. Her parents had always said she was a burden. They must have been right.

The small, frail girl starts to sob, unable to hold back the agony and hurt. She can barely hold onto the hope that these people won’t send her back to the void she grew up in.

Dink dink dink

She hears a few quick taps on the window across from her, but doesn’t bother looking up. There’s no reason to.

DUNK DUNK DUNK

She warily looks up, and suddenly her face lights up, her quivering lips turning into a ginormous smile.

Rapidly tapping against the window pane is the man that had been plaguing her thoughts ever since he took his comforting, sharp toothed smile back through that door.

She jumps off the bed, running over, and standing on her tippy toes to push the window frame up.

“Miss me Kiddo?” He asks, reaching through the window and ruffling her hair.

She lets it happen for a moment, before pushing his hand away, and turning her smile back into a frown.

“Listen Kid, I really am sorry about what happened, but this is for the best.” BJ says.

Freya just shakes her head, not having it.

“Don’t make this harder for either of us. I just wanted to say goodbye, and tell you that this isn’t your fault.” He tries to explain.

She shakes her head once more and grabs his arm, trying to pull him through the window.

He just sighs, making a show of ignoring her, and letting her attempt to get him inside the house for a solid five minutes.

She refuses to give up, but tears start to run down her cheeks once more as he doesn’t budge, and seeing this, Beetlejuice rips a corner from his long jacket.

“Hey, hey,” He says, dabbing the cloth against her cheek before handing it to her, forcing her to let go of her sleeve as she takes it. “I promise you, I would stay if I could. But the people in there really don’t like me. If I stayed, it would only make things harder for you.”

She takes a deep breath, and in response, starts to climb up and out of the window.

“Whoa there,” He says, gently pushing against her shoulder, keeping her inside. “I won’t have any of that.”

She tries to push against him once more, still failing to get out. Because of this, BJ gently picks her up, and leaning through the window, sets her back firmly inside.

“I know this is hard, and I really don’t want this either, but it’s for the best. So please, stay here.” He says, his voice pleading. “I promise, it’s safe here. And I’ll never be far. I’ll just be waiting, hanging around outside of the house, but still protecting you. Alright?”

Reluctantly, she nods, knowing that she won’t be able to convince him to stay.

He lets out a sigh of relief, and smiles at her.

“Perfect.” He says, ruffling her hair one last time. “Now, be good for them. I’ll see you later.”

And with that, he disappears downwards, leaving the frame of the window.

Freya stands there for a moment. Then, slowly, she reaches out, closing the window. Then she walks back over to the bed, climbing on it, lying on top of the covers, and staring at the ceiling.

Chapter 12: Yes, demons need food too. Don’t ask logistics, a ghost made it anyways

Knock knock

“Hey Freya.” Lydia says as she opens the door.

She sees the girl lying on the bed, and goes over to it, sitting next to her. As she does, Freya looks up at her, staring blankly.

Lydia clears her throat, and turns her head, looking away from the demon as she speaks.

“Listen, I know this whole situation is… awkward. But I would like you to know that we’re all here for you. Me, Barbara, and Adam will all support you. If you need anything, you can just ask us.” She says, taking a breath before continuing. “We do want you here. I know that what that demon did left us no choice but to take you in, but we would’ve done so anyways. So don’t go thinking that you’re in the way, or we want you gone, since that’s not the case.”

After a moment Lydia feels the bed shift, and then there’s Freya, sitting next to her, giving her a small nod. Lydia smiles at her, before taking out her phone.

“Now,” she starts. “Let’s get some decorations for this boring looking room! Just point at whatever you like.”

Freya smiles up at Lydia, and nods once more.

Lydia starts scrolling through recommendations for kids' furniture and decorations, with Freya pointing at curtains, bed sheets, shelves, and little knick knacks, all pink, purple, and covered in bows.

After a while there’s another knock at the door, and Barbara peaks her head into the room. Both of the girls sitting on the bed turn their heads, looking up at her.

“How’s it going in here?” Barbara asks, before holding up a tray full of crackers and cookies. “I brought treats!”

Freya lights up, and Lydia turns, tapping the middle of the bed, gesturing for Barbara to set it down.

“It’s going good.” Lydia replies, grabbing a cookie as Barbara places it on the blanket.

Freya turns towards the plater, and hesitantly starts reaching out, before pulling back. Barbara gives her a soft smile, and pushes it forward, towards her.

“Go ahead Dear, it’s alright.” She says.

The girl takes a deep breath, and grabs a cracker, gently putting it in her mouth, before grabbing more off the plate.

“We’ve got most everything for the room ordered now.” Lydia informs Barbara.

“That’s great!” Barbara exclaims, before taking an excited breath inwards. “Do you know what’s a great idea?”

The other two shake their heads and lean forward, curiosity thoroughly peaked.

“We should design an outfit for Freya!” Barbara suggests. “I have been wanting to start sewing again.”

Freya nods, excited.

“Agreed.” Lydia says in between bites. “But first, we should let the girl rest. She probably needs it.”

Freya nods once more.

“Of course.” Barbara says. “We’ll finish up these snacks, then off to bed!”

Chapter 13: I’m surprised Adam knows what those are…

Knock knock

“Hey Freya.” Lydia says as she opens the door.

She sees the girl lying on the bed, and goes over to it, sitting next to her. As she does, Freya looks up at her, staring blankly.

Lydia clears her throat, and turns her head, looking away from the demon as she speaks.

“Listen, I know this whole situation is… awkward. But I would like you to know that we’re all here for you. Me, Barbara, and Adam will all support you. If you need anything, you can just ask us.” She says, taking a breath before continuing. “We do want you here. I know that what that demon did left us no choice but to take you in, but we would’ve done so anyways. So don’t go thinking that you’re in the way, or we want you gone, since that’s not the case.”

After a moment Lydia feels the bed shift, and then there’s Freya, sitting next to her, giving her a small nod. Lydia smiles at her, before taking out her phone.

“Now,” she starts. “Let’s get some decorations for this boring looking room! Just point at whatever you like.”

Freya smiles up at Lydia, and nods once more.

Lydia starts scrolling through recommendations for kids' furniture and decorations, with Freya pointing at curtains, bed sheets, shelves, and little knick knacks, all pink, purple, and covered in bows.

After a while there’s another knock at the door, and Barbara peaks her head into the room. Both of the girls sitting on the bed turn their heads, looking up at her.

“How’s it going in here?” Barbara asks, before holding up a tray full of crackers and cookies. “I brought treats!”

Freya lights up, and Lydia turns, tapping the middle of the bed, gesturing for Barbara to set it down.

“It’s going good.” Lydia replies, grabbing a cookie as Barbara places it on the blanket.

Freya turns towards the plater, and hesitantly starts reaching out, before pulling back. Barbara gives her a soft smile, and pushes it forward, towards her.

“Go ahead Dear, it’s alright.” She says.

The girl takes a deep breath, and grabs a cracker, gently putting it in her mouth, before grabbing more off the plate.

“We’ve got most everything for the room ordered now.” Lydia informs Barbara.

“That’s great!” Barbara exclaims, before taking an excited breath inwards. “Do you know what’s a great idea?”

The other two shake their heads and lean forward, curiosity thoroughly peaked.

“We should design an outfit for Freya!” Barbara suggests. “I have been wanting to start sewing again.”

Freya nods, excited.

“Agreed.” Lydia says in between bites. “But first, we should let the girl rest. She probably needs it.”

Freya nods once more.

“Of course.” Barbara says. “We’ll finish up these snacks, then off to bed!”

Notes:

Just want to pop in the notes and say thank you to everyone reading, bookmarking, and leaving kudos, you don't know how happy it makes me! So thank you!!!!

On that note, if you have any questions, like why I do specific things with specific characters, feel free to leave a comment, if it's not a spoiler, I'll answer it, and if it is, I'll probably answer with a non spoiler, or at least reply. Or, if you have any silly ideas for things the crew could do, I'd love to hear those as well! There is a serious backlog though, so don't expect your ideas to show up anytime soon.

Thanks again, see you next chapter!!

Chapter 14: Funny how the chapter about decorating someone's room doesn’t have the literal interior designer

Adam lets out a sigh as he traces his hand against the wall, and Lydia glances at him, one eyebrow raised.

“I still can’t understand why those people thought it would be a good idea to take down the original wallpaper.” He explains.

Lydia shakes her head, playfully rolling her eyes.

“I know you hate Delia’s design choices, but you have to have something better to do then reminisce about fucking wallpaper.” She teases him.

He puts his hands on his hips, looking down at her, barely suppressing a smile.

“Well, young lady, it’s not my fault I’m being forced to stare at my now desecrated wall.” He responds, and they both laugh together.

Barbara clears her throat behind them, getting their attention.

“Alright, you two can turn around now.” She says, and together they turn away from the wall.

In front of them is Freya, in a bright yellow dress, covered in white bows, with gloves, and a pair of adorable pink boots. Her hair’s in space buns, held in place with even more bows, and she smiles widely up at them, before twirling.

Barbara clasps her hands over her heart, the most loving look on her face, Adam applauds, and Lydia smiles at her.

Freya lets out a soft giggle, and for the first time since Adam’s met her, he can say she looks free, happy, and like, well, a kid.

“This is only one of many dresses I was able to finish. I can now confidently say that our little Freya has a full closet, all with brand new clothes.” Barbara says, pride shining in her eyes.

“Now the only thing she needs for her to be completely at home is to decorate her room.” Adam states.

With that, Lydia perks up, and then slips into the hallway, returning with cardboard boxes in her arms.

“Good thing everything we ordered arrived this morning.” Lydia says, smiling.

Adam immediately goes over to her, taking the packages from her and taking them up the stairs.

“Well we better start decorating then!” He calls over his shoulder.

The others quickly follow suit behind him, and he leads them into the old spare room, setting the boxes on the bed. Lydia takes out a pocket knife, opening the biggest one first to reveal an unbuilt dresser.

Adam starts assembling it as the others open more packages full of everything Freya had wanted, and a few other things Lydia thought would be good to add to the order.

After he puts it together, Adam pushes the dresser to the wall, then hoists Freya onto it.

“You’re the boss here, tell us what you want us to do.” Adam says. “Your gesture is our command.”

Freya smiles at the group and starts pointing at things, directing them to create her perfect room. They all follow her biddings with smiles, joking and laughing as they work.

Adam opens up another box, revealing bright pink curtains. He pulls them out, taking them over to the window, and starts taking down the old gray ones when he catches a flash of a yellowed smile.

He blinks, looking out the window for a few solid moments. Not seeing anything else, he decides to ignore it, he deems it just a trick of the eye, and not worth his attention.

The rest of the decorating goes smoothly, and after a couple of hard working hours, they’re finally done. Everyone surveys their handy work, and Adam nods, pleased with the outcome.

Freya smiles, looking at the room wide eyed, and filled with pure joy.

“Is this up to your standards Kid?” Lydia asks her.

She whips her head around, nodding emphatically at her, almost looking afraid that if she said no, it’d all be taken away.

Lydia looks at her, her gaze soft, and gives her a pat on the head.

“Good, I’m glad.” She says. “You deserve a room you love.”

After a moment Freya smiles once more, happy again, after seeing that this isn’t all just a dream, and that no one is going to come and take it all away.

“Since everyone’s worked so hard, I think we all deserve a treat.” Barbara states, before opening the door. “Come on, let’s go make something!”

Adam smiles at his wife, knowing that she just wants to feed her two girls, since neither of the Maitlands can eat anything anymore, and everyone shuffles downstairs, ready to kick back and relax after a job well done.

Chapter 15: Got a bit too sloppy there

Lydia stands in front of the stove, stirring her scrambled eggs absentmindedly.

Last week her life got turned upside down, and after that, she thought her life would never go back to normal. But since then, the little girl that got shoved onto them, Freya, has gotten settled in, and hasn’t caused much of a fuss.

And from what Lydia’s seen, her presence has even helped Barbara and Adam, who both seem happy to have someone else they can take care of and fawn over.

Lydia smiles as takes her breakfast off the heat. Those two are such good parents, and it fills her with a certain type of happiness knowing that they can finally really be that for someone.

She dishes up her food, sitting at the table to eat. She’d fallen back into a rhythm of kinds. She gets up, eats food, skips the coffee, does her college classes, and once that’s done, she helps entertain Freya, and chills with Adam and Barbara.

Even with the wrench that demon threw into it, she’s been able to find normal again, and has gone back to her peaceful, quiet life.

Just the life she wants.

Finishing up the last of her breakfast, she stands up, stretching before taking it over to the sink, putting it in.

She turns, starting to walk away, before something in the window catches her eye.

Just for a moment she sees a familiar purple and a sickening white color.

She turns, fully focusing on the window, but she can’t see anything out there. Still, she stares outside, convinced of what she saw.

“Oh hell no.” She says to herself.

After a minute she turns around, rushing to the staircase, and taking the steps two at a time, banging on the attic door once she reaches it.

Adam opens the door, concern etched all over his face.

“What’s wrong?” He asks her.

She only shakes her head, pushing her way into the room. Lydia walks over to the attic window, shoving it open and leaning out, scanning everything outside.

After seeing nothing, she pulls herself back in and turns towards the two ghosts.

“Have either of you seen anything strange?” She asks them, a franticness edging into her voice.

Both of them start shaking their heads, and then stop, looking at each other.

“Didn’t you mention thinking you saw a smile in the window…?” Barbara asks Adam.

“And you mentioned you thought you saw stripes.” Adam recalls. “And hadn’t he said that he had watched us before we died?”

For a moment Lydia stands startlingly still, before she darts out of the room. After a second, she turns around, bracing herself against the doorway.

“Next time you see something strange, tell me. ” She says, exasperated, before she rushes back downstairs.

This cannot be happening to her again. Why the hell is he back? Why won’t he fucking leave her alone?

Lydia fights her racing thoughts, trying her very best to stay calm as she reaches the ground floor. She closes her eyes as she gets to the door, trying to compose and steady herself.

After a few deep breaths she nods to herself, forcing herself to be mentally prepared to open the door and find the son of a bitch.

She presses her forehead against the wood of the door, counting down under her breath.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two…. One.”

She yanks the door open.

Chapter 16: BEETLEJUICE MAKES AN ENTRANCE!!!

Notes:

TW: Brief mention of Suicide

BJ lets out a yawn, stretching before settling back onto the tree branch he’s been laying on.

He has already completed his rounds, checking on everyone in the house. From what he’s been able to see since leaving, everyone’s gotten along well, just as he’d hoped. Sure, it hurts to see them all happy and having fun without him, but he isn’t stupid enough to think that they would be happy and having fun if he was with them.

“I KNOW YOU’RE OUT HERE, SO SHOW YOURSELF!” He hears someone yell.

He leisurely turns his head, seeing Lydia, standing in the middle of the lawn, scanning the world around her.

With a grunt Beetlejuice sits up.

“I’m up here Lyds.” He says, getting her full attention.

“Why are you still here?” She asks him, approaching the dead tree, her voice tense.

BJ just shrugs, looking unconcerned.

“Oh, you know, I’m just…” He starts, pausing for a moment. “Keeping tabs on everyone.”

Lydia crosses her arms, looking up at him with a fury in her eyes.

“You left. You abandoned the girl and you left. So leave .” She says.

“I just wanted to make sure that everything is going smoothly.” He tries explaining. “I haven’t interfered with anything, and I’m not going to. I’ve just simply been observing.”

“You don’t get to stay and hang around. You wouldn’t have gotten that luxury before, and you sure as hell won’t get it after hurting her.”

“What? So I didn’t get to care about what happens to her?”

“Yeah, exactly that. You already showed that you don’t care, so you can’t stay and pretend that you do now.”

“I didn’t leave because I don’t care.” He says, then turns, looking into the distance. “This whole mess didn’t even happen in the first draft, so it really isn’t my fault.”

Lydia stares at him.
“Why do you do that? Why do you refuse to take this seriously?” She asks him.

“Oh, sorry, still not used to there being no live audience.” BJ responds as he turns back to look at her.

Lydia only shakes her head at him, visibly fuming with anger.

“Just leave.”

“Come on Scarecrow, I’m not hurting anyone. Why can’t I just hang around, outside, not interacting with anyone?”

“I’m sorry that I don’t want the monster that forced me to marry him watching me and my family through the windows.” She bites back.

Beetlejuice stares Lydia for a moment, before sliding off the tree, eyes still fixated on her.

“Is that how you think of me? Is that really the only thing you remember happening?” BJ asks her, his voice dangerously low.

“It’s the only important thing that comes to my mind.” Lydia retorts, taking a step closer to him, standing slightly over him.

He lets out a bitter laugh.

“Well then, let me enlighten you, since I’ve had to relive it hundreds of times . Let’s see, I stopped you from jumping off a roof, got pushed off it myself in return, and I still came to your rescue when you called for me, saving you from being trapped in your sad miserable little life,” As he speaks he counts the events on his fingers, his voice getting louder the longer he talks. “I took care of you, I entertained you, I did everything that you asked of me, and then the one time I said no, you turned on me, yes, I tricked you, but you made me think I would be loved, that I would have a family, before you killed me, and took away my one chance at a normal goddamned life! And guess what?! Even after that I saved you from an early eternity in the Netherworld!”

In the distance thunder cracks, the sound bringing along a flood of rain, which both of them ignore, eyes deadlocked on the other.

“It’s still your fault!” Lydia screams over the sudden downpour. “You refused to help me get my Mom back! Of course I was pissed at you!”

“If I had done that my Mom would have taken me, your Mom, and most likely the Maitlands, into the Netherworld! There was no chance that she would have been allowed to stay!” He yells back at her. “You were supposed to be my ticket away from that place, so I’m sorry for not getting dragged back down to hell for you !”

Lydia blinks at him, seeming to be snapped out of a trance, before looking around, seeing the rain.

She opens her mouth before shutting it again, shaking her head, and turning around, walking back into the house, soaked, without another word.

Beetlejuice starts after Lydia for a moment, not quite sure what else to do, or where to go from here.

He looks up, noticing the weather for the first time, before looking down again, not moving.

This was the worst way this conversation could have gone, and he can’t get rid of the feeling that he fucked up, and badly.

He runs both of his hands through his hair, letting out something between a growl and a scream, before turning around once more and climbing back into the tree, wrapping his large coat around himself, and pulling his knees in, curling up, watching the sky dump its tears around him.

Chapter 17: Another heart to heart. Not like we just had one. Granted, this one is less angry

Barbara watches as Lydia furiously paces around the living room, every once in a while fixing a picture frame, or picking something up and putting it right back down. She can’t help but be concerned for the girl, since she’s been doing this for the past three days.

“Lydia,” Barbara starts quietly.

Lydia’s head snaps up, and she looks at her, eyes wide.

“What? What is it? What happened?” She asks Barbara, her voice full of concern.

“Nothing happened, everything’s okay.” Barbara responds calmly. “I’m just worried about you, that’s all. You’ve been acting off ever since you came inside absolutely soaked a few days ago, but you won’t tell me or Adam what’s going on.”

Lydia just shrugs, shaking her head.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine.” She mutters. “I just don’t want to worry either of you.”

Barbara approaches her, gently putting her hand on Lydia’s shoulder.

“Lydia, I’m here for you. Something’s obviously bothering you, so please, talk to me.”

She bites her lip for a moment, thinking everything over, before letting out a sigh.

“Freya’s still in the attic playing Go Fish with Adam, right?” Lydia asks her.

Barbara nods, and Lydia lets out another sigh before plopping down onto the couch.

“I found him out there.” She states, her eyes full of a tiredness that Barbara thinks no one her age should have.

She slowly sits down next to her, her gaze not leaving the girl.

“You found whom?” She asks.

“I found the demon outside.” Lydia says, almost whispering it.

Barbara immediately grips Lydia’s hands, trying to comfort her.
“Are you alright? Did anything bad happen?” She asks, searching Lydia’s face for any sign that she got hurt.

Lydia nods softly.

“I’m okay.” She replies softly. “We just got into… a bit of a verbal fight.”

“Did he say something that hurt you?”

“No. Well, yes, but… I think I just fucked up real bad.”

Barbara gives her hands a squeeze, giving her a soft nod to continue.

“It’s alright, you can tell me.”

Lydia takes a breath inwards before continuing.

“Well, I had asked him to leave, and I brought up how I didn’t  want the demon who made me marry him just hanging around, and then he started shouting about how he did so much more than that in the time we knew each other, but he wasn’t even angry, his hair never even turned red, he wasn't violent, he was just… sad.” She vents to Barbara, before having to take another deep breath. “And I can’t help but just feel bad. I mean, he is right. In those days when we were just haunting the house together, I liked him. He was so fun to be around. He saw how weird I was, and he wholeheartedly embraced it, he even encouraged it. He only hurt me after I hurt him.”

Barbara nods along, listening to everything she has to say.

Once Lydia finishes, Barbara wraps her into a tight hug.

“I know it sometimes hurts to be shown that what you think might not be right, but what he did was wrong, and you have every right to still be mad about it.” She explains, her tone soft and caring. “People are complicated. Sometimes the people who make you smile can also hurt you, and just because sometimes they're good, doesn’t mean you can’t be upset. But the same goes the opposite way. Maybe you do need to reevaluate how you feel about him, but maybe, even after you do, you won’t be able to just forgive him. And that’s okay. It’s alright to feel how you feel Lydia.”

After a minute Lydia looks up at Barbara, wiping her cheeks before speaking.

“But… What happens if I do that, and I find I don’t hate him anymore?” She asks, her voice sincere. “What happens if I look back at everything and see that I was in the wrong? What if I lose the ability to point back and see a clear bad guy?”

Barbara pulls her close once more, giving her another tight hug.

“You know that the whole situation was messy. So much happened in such a short period of time, I don’t think there ever was a clear villain. Just a lot of really really hurt people.” Barbara says, before pausing. “Well, I think we can all agree that Juno was pretty evil.”

Lydia laughs softly, pulling away from Barbara once more.

“Yeah, she was very awful.”

“Feeling better now?”

Lydia nods.

“Yeah. Thanks Barbara.”

“Of course. I’d do anything to help you.”

Lydia rolls her eyes at how sappy she sounds, but smiles at her for the first time in the past few days.

Chapter 18: This chapter is very puzzling (Wink wink, nudge nudge)

Freya stares at the raindrops streaking across the window. It hasn't stopped raining in over a week, and she can’t help but wonder why the sky is so sad. The sky in the Netherworld was never sad. But there also really wasn’t a sky, only ever the dreaded darkness.

She had become so resentful of darkness of any kind that she had gotten the sassy one, Lydia, to get her what the breathers’ call a night light.

She really does wish that the sky would stop being so gray. She likes when it’s sunny and blue. The dark gray does remind her of the day she met the stripy man, but even so, she would rather sunshine.

Where is he anyways? He hadn’t visited her again since the first day, and she’s starting to get worried. She has seen glimpses of him in the windows, but ever since the storm, he’s been gone. She really hopes he didn’t get caught up in it or got hurt somehow.

Knock knock

Freya looks towards the door as it creaks open, revealing the creator of the noise.

“Hi Sweety,” Adam starts. “Lydia went to the store and picked up a flower puzzle while she was out. Barbara and I were wondering if you’d like to put it together with us?”

Freya looks up at him for a moment, then hops off her bean bag chair, walking over to him, nodding once she reaches him.

Adam holds out his hand, the girl takes it, and together they walk down the stairs, going to the kitchen table.

“Freya, Dear, I’m so happy you’re joining us!” Barbara says, greeting her with a smile and pulling out a chair for her to sit.

Freya takes it, and the Maitlands sit on either side of her.

Barbara pulls the box over, opening it and dumping the contents onto the table.

Freya stares at the strange shapes, picking up a piece, examining it, and putting it down again, confused. She looks up at the ghosts on either side of her.

Barbara catches on to her puzzlement, and digs through the pile on the table, finding two matching pieces, showing them to the girl, and putting them together.

“See, the pieces go together like this, and then you interlock them all together, and it makes a pretty picture!” Barbara explains.

Freya looks at the two pieces joined together, nods, and starts sorting through the pieces, splitting them into different piles for edge pieces, pieces that go on the inside, and ones that are similar to each other.

The ghosts look over the demon girl’s head, glancing at each other.

“She really does catch onto things quickly.” Adam observes.

“Freya’s such a bright young girl.” Barbara comments

She ignores both of them, solely focusing on sorting the pieces.

As she finishes, she gently shoves a pile in each of their directions, so that the three of them can all work on it together.

They all work diligently to put everything together, Barbara and Adam chatting as they go.

After not too long, there’s only one piece to place, and both Maitlands nod at each other, giving the final one to Freya.

She looks up for the first time since she started working, glancing between the two of them. Barbara gives her a soft nod, encouraging her.

“Go ahead.” Adam says, urging her on.

Freya takes a deep breath in, still not used to getting positive attention, and places the final piece of the puzzle into its place.

And then suddenly before her appears a picture. It’s of a magical place, full of colors, and lights, and life, and she can’t help but be mesmerized by it.

“You like it?” Adam asks her, and she frantically starts nodding.

Barbara lets out a soft laugh, placing a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“Well then, I’ll ask Lydia if sometime soon she can take you to a flower field so you can see all the pretty colors in person.” She says.

Freya beams up at her, the biggest smile in the world.

The picture the puzzle transformed into is like a gateway to a whole nother realm, and she can hardly imagine being able to actually see it in person. It’d be one of the happiest days in all her existence, that she’s sure of.

She gets up, practically dancing with excitement as she reaches the stairs, climbing them to get back to her room where she can daydream about the day she’d get to see the pretty flowers.

Chapter 19: Well, that’s one way to communicate

Lydia glares out the window. It’s been raining non stop for over a month now, and she has started to suspect that somehow it’s the demon outside’s fault. She knows it sounds absurd. How could he be the one making it rain? But it started showering when he’d snapped at her, so maybe…

She shakes her head, moving away from the window and towards the front room, where she sees Freya sitting on the couch, coloring.

“What are you working on?” Lydia asks her, leaning over the back of the sofa to see the coloring book in her hands.

The girl jumps, startled, before holding up the picture she had been coloring.

It’s a picture of a flower, and Freya had taken the brightest colors in the crayon bin, coloring each petal a different, vibrant color.

“It’s very pretty.” Lydia comments.

The girl just stares up at her, still looking startled, before her eyes drift downwards, and she gently pokes the necklace hanging around Lydia’s throat.

“Oh, this thing?”

Lydia walks to the other side of the couch, sits next to her, and unclaspes her necklace, opening it up to reveal two pictures inside.

“This one is a picture of me when I was younger with my Mom and Dad.” She says, pointing to the right side before pointing to the left. “And this is of me, my Dad, and my stepmom Delia. We had to draw Adam and Barbara in, since they can’t show up in pictures.”

Freya stares at the pictures for a moment, before picking up three crayons, a purple one, a black one, and a white one, and cocking her head sideways.

“Are you asking why the man who brought you here isn’t in it?” Lydia asks.

Freya nods, looking at her with the most innocent eyes.

Lydia sighs, closing the necklace and putting it back on before explaining.

“Well, this locket holds the pictures of my family in it, and he isn’t a part of that.”

The girl looks at it for a moment more, before looking down, and slowly pointing towards herself.

“Hey, don’t worry, you’re a part of this family too.” Lydia tries reassuring her. “I’ve had this necklace for a long time now, that’s all.”

Freya looks up at her, and seeing a sadness still in her eyes, Lydia takes off her golden hoop bracelet, holding it up.

“Here, until we can get a new picture with the whole family, you can be this bracelet, and whenever I’m wearing it, I’ll think of you and have you with me.” She says, making the idea up on the fly.

Freya’s expression immediately brightens, and she takes the bracelet, putting it back on Lydia’s wrist with a smile.

Lydia laughs softly, patting the kid on the top of the head before standing up.

“You’re a sweet kid, Freya.” She says before leaving the girl to her coloring once more.

Notes:

Just a small heads up, updating might start getting a bit slower. I still have a lot of chapters already written, but I haven't been able to write anymore in awhile (my motivation disappeared better then BJ did in the Maitland's attic, so I'm still working on getting it back). But, I have started editing some of the chapters, so work is still being done, even if the word count isn't rising.

Thank you all once again for reading!!!

Chapter 20: It’s an old ass house, of course the roof’s gonna leak

Notes:

"Hey, you, reader. Yeah, I'm talking to you. Read the end notes, there's a special extra thingy for you there, because it's a few days till Christmas, and the loser who wrote this thing didn't do a Christmas, or even just a Holiday, special because they didn't have a schedule for this, like a loser. Anyways, see'ya!" Beetlejuice says, sharp grin on his face, before disappearing back into the digital pages of Ao3.

Adam, Barbara, and Lydia all stand in the attic, staring up at the ceiling, and the water dripping down from it.

“I can’t believe our ceiling gave out on us.” Adam says, hands on his hips as he glares at the water.

“It’s just a leak dear, it didn’t give out on us completely.” Barbara corrects him.

“But it hasn’t leaked since we replaced it!” He says, upset that the water is possibly damaging his precious house. “Not until now, anyways.”

“It’s this constant stupid rain.” Lydia says, her voice full of a bitterness that surprises Adam.

It is her house now, but he wouldn’t expect her to care so much. A few buckets should do the job till the rain stops and they can patch it up from the outside.

“Don’t worry Lydia, we should be able to manage it.” He says, trying to encourage her.

Lydia only shakes her head as a response, before making her way towards the door, and looking over her shoulder as she opens it.

“I’ll go down to the basement and get some buckets.” She calls, shutting the door as she leaves.

As soon as she leaves Adam turns to Barbara, concern plaguing his face.

“Is Lydia okay?” He asks her.

Barbara doesn’t respond for a moment, biting her lip before sighing.

“I think she’s still rattled from her run in with BJ.” She explains.

Adam nods.

“I wish I could just go out there and make him apologize for what he said.” Adam says, putting on a fierce face.

Barbara puts a hand on his shoulder.

“You know you can’t go outside Adam. It’d kill you.” She says, giving his shoulder a little squeeze.

“I know, I know. I just wish I could do something for her.” He sighs, sitting down defeated on his couch.

Barbara sits next to him, patting his leg.

“Lydia appreciates us just being here for her, we don’t have to do anything else.”

“But I still feel useless. I want to solve all of her problems. Barbara, I want to be able to protect her.”

“She’s an adult now Adam, there are things she’ll have to face on her own now.”

“But she shouldn’t have to face a literal demon on her own.”

“I know she shouldn’t, but it’s no use wishing we could help in ways that we can’t.”

Adam lets out another sigh.

“You’re right.”

“Like always.” Barbara replies with a teasing grin.

Adam smiles at his wife, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, before standing up and stretching his nonexistent joints.

Just as he does that, the door opens, and Lydia walks in carrying two buckets and an arm full of towels.

“I’ve brought the supplies.” She says, lifting her arms up slightly, trying not to drop everything she’s holding.

Both Maitlands rush towards her, Adam taking a bucket from her, and Barbara takes the towels out of her arms. Lydia smiles at both of them, and Adam tries to ignore the fact that it looks half forced.

“Alright now, let’s get this mess cleaned up before it soaks into the floorboards and starts damaging the rest of the house.” Adam says, grabbing a towel from Barbara and getting on his hands and knees, cleaning up the mess the leak left.

Lydia and Barbara look at each other, before both of them shrug, joining him on the ground, all working together.

“Hey Lydia,” Adam starts, getting her attention. “What language do they speak in the middle of the earth?”

Lydia looks over to him, already rolling her eyes.

“I don’t know Adam, enlighten me.”

“Correan!”

Beside him Barbara laughs, and Lydia shakes her head with a small smile.

Notes:

How each character would wish someone happy holidays:

“Merry Christmas!” - Adam

“Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! Say hi to the family for me!” - Barbara

“Happy Holidays.” - Lydia

‘Stares with her head cocked sideways, confused.’ - Freya

“Happy Hanukkah.” - Beetlejuice

 

How each character would celebrate the season:

Barbara would go all out for the season, decorating, baking, and making everyone presents. As soon as Thanksgiving is over, it’s Christmas music 24/7, and a Hallmark movie marathon.

Adam doesn’t quite love Christmas as much as his wife, but he’ll help her decorate, and while they were alive he was the one to put the lights up outside. He still gets gifts for everyone, and does enjoy the Holiday, especially how much it makes Barbara happy.

Lydia doesn’t care for Christmas, it’s just one of many Holidays around that time, but she does love getting to see her family. Each year they alternate between her visiting Charles and Delia, and them coming back to The House.

Freya has zero clue what any of the Holidays are, but when the Maitlands decorate she’d be enamored by the lights, and would love to try everything that commonly comes with the season.

Beetlejuice fully knows all the Holidays and Traditions. He’s spent many years watching random peoples' Holidays, in a “totally not creepy way”. He’s never actually celebrated any, though. Juno never made any effort to acknowledge the season, or at least the season when related to other people and giving gifts, so BJ never picked up the habit of celebrating any of the Holidays.

Chapter 21: She better not forget to finish that assignment

Notes:

TW: Suicidal thoughts and tendencies (heavily in there) (but very important to the story, sorry)

Lydia sips her chai tea, sitting at the dining room table, laptop in front of her, working on a college assignment.

She’s trying to keep her mind focused on what’s in front of her, but her thoughts keep wandering. She can’t help but feel paranoid that he’s still watching her. Her gut tells her that he wouldn’t try anything, but even after a month and a half, her head won’t stop screaming at her that he’s dangerous and shouldn’t be left to his own devices.

And she’s still trying to understand how she feels about him. When you hate someone for years, you can’t just stop. Even if you’ve been told a valid reason that you shouldn’t hate them.

She lays her head on the table in frustration.

“This whole thing suuuuuuuuuuuuucks.” She groans.

Shreeeeek

Hearing a chair being dragged backwards, Lydia looks up, seeing Freya climbing onto the chair across from her.

“Oh. Hey Freya.” She says, blinking at the girl before sitting up. “Sorry that you caught me at a bad time.”

Freya just looks at her, and Lydia notices how red her cheeks are, and how sad she looks.

In an instant Lydia stands up, rushing to the other side of the table, crouching down to be on the same level as her.

“Hey, what happened?” She asks in the gentlest voice she can.

Freya shakily points to her head, and then holds her thumb downwards.

“You had a bad dream?”

She nods.

“What was it about?”

Freya shakes her head.

Lydia lets out a small sigh.

“Is there anything I can do?” She asks the girl.

Freya hesitates, before gripping the rim of her dress, tears pooling in her eyes before overflowing onto her cheeks.

“W-where’s Mr. Beebleboose?” Freya asks in a shaky voice.

Lydia blinks, shocked that the demon girl finally spoke, before composing herself.

“He’s gone. He won’t bother you anymore.” She says, voice soft but carrying a note of confusion.

Freya starts violently shaking her head.

“B-but, but, he said he wouldn’t be far away.” She says, voice quavering still. “He promised me he’d protect me.”

Lydia stays in a stunned silence for a moment, just absolutely shocked. She wants him back. Freya really does want that demon back.

“You really want to see him, huh.”

Freya nods.

Lydia lets out a giant sigh, standing up.

“I’ll be back then.” She says, walking to, and opening, the door.

It’s still pouring outside, and Lydia practically has to fight the wind to fully get onto the porch and close the door. She stumbles into the yard, scanning for any sign of the stripe wearing demon.

After turning around multiple times, she finally looks up to see Beetlejuice standing on the corner of the roof, staring out into the distance, his long brown coat whipping around him.

“There you are!” She says, the weather forcing her to shout.

BJ glances down at her, before going back to watching the gray sky.

Lydia takes a few steps forward, trying to hold his attention.

“Hey, I need yo-”

“Do you know the worst part about starting your existence off dead?” Beetlejuice asks, cutting her off, still not looking in her direction, and not giving her the time to answer. “Not being able to get out of it.”

Lydia freezes dead in her tracks, staring wide eyed at him.

“What do you mean?” She asks, her voice full of genuine concern.

“There isn’t an end. You start off where everyone else finishes.” He replies, a true bitterness in his voice. “The only way to get out of it is to get eaten by a sandworm, and I couldn’t even manage that.”

“Please get down from there.” Lydia begs.

BJ shrugs halfheartedly, seeming unbothered as he steps off the roof.

“WAIT!” Lydia screams.

BJ looks over at her from where he landed, perfectly intact, on his feet.

“What? You forget everything I just said?” He asks, for a moment flashing her a grin as he approaches, before turning serious once more. “And don’t worry, I won’t put up a fight this time.”

Lydia shakes her head, trying to drag herself out of the shock of what just happened.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” She asks him.

“I’ll leave.” He says, walking briskly past her.

She catches his arm, stopping him from walking any further.

“Oh no you won’t.” She says, her voice firm.

He turns his head at an unnatural angle to stare blankly at her.

“Aren’t you out here to ask me to leave?” He asks her, confused. “Or do you want to yell at me before I go?”

Lydia rolls her eyes at him, before becoming serious once more.

“I don’t want you to leave.” She tells him, only to be with another confused look.

“But last time-” He starts, only to be cut off.

“I know what happened last time, but shit happens sometimes, and now I need you to stay.” She explains. “At least for now. If you want to leave later, I won’t stop you, but for now there’s something I need you to do.”

Beetlejuice blinks, and for the first time in much too long, the rain started to die down, before ceasing completely. He turns completely around, and tilts his head, still looking incredibly confused.

“What changed your mind?” He asks as she releases his arm from her grip.

“The girl.” Lydia states. “She wants to see you.”

BJ, and the sky, brighten slightly.

“Alright, let's go then!” He says, almost vibrating with a sudden excitement.

Lydia holds her palm out, signaling him to stop.

“Not so fast. First we have to establish some ground rules.” She tells him. “No messing with anyone,”

He nods.

“That includes trying to marry me.” She informs him.

“I tried that once, and it didn’t work, why do you think I’d be stupid enough to try again?” He asks, before something occurs to him. “Do you think I would ever want to actually marry you? Ew, no, gross. You were my best friend, I would never . And that’s not even mentioning the fact that you’re still a child to me!”

“Yeah, well I would never want to either. And besides, I’m a lesbian.” She responds. “And that’s not even the biggest reason either.”

BJ nods, and Lydia shakes her head, both of them in agreement that getting married for a second time would be one of the worst things that could possibly happen.

“Any other ground rules?” BJ asks, bringing them back on track, bouncing between his feet, seeming impatient.

“Yes. Respect everyone's boundaries, don’t do anything to hurt the girl, keep yourself in check, don’t touch things without permission, and just in general don’t do anything if you aren’t asked to.” She says, finishing off the list.

After a moment he just nods, expecting all of her demands.

“Alright. I agree to these terms and conditions, and am ready to continue.” He says, sticking his hand out.

Lydia tentatively takes his hand, shaking it.

“Shall we then, Scarecrow?” He asks her, before almost tripping as Lydia turns around, grabbing his tie and pulling him towards the house.

Notes:

Sorry about the slight formatting change, I realized that Ao3 hadn't taken my tilted and bold text, so I switched to copy and pasting it into the rich text option. I will at some point be doing that with the previous chapters, but nothing in the text itself will actually change.

Thank you for reading

Chapter 22: It’s a strange feeling having someone happy to see me

Beetlejuice wasn’t sure what he’s supposed to expect as he walks into the house. All of his expectations for the day had already been thrown out the window.

As he enters the house his eyes immediately catch on the small girl sitting at the table. She’s all cleaned up now, her hair in neat little space buns, she’s wearing what he assumes to be a bright yellow, poofy dress, and is covered head to toe in bows.

She looks so different from when he first picked her up off the street, but her heterochromic eyes, lavender hair, and nervous air tell him that she’s the same demon.

As soon as the girl sees him, her face bursts into a wide grin, and she practically leaps off the chair, racing towards him.

Without thinking BJ falls to his knees to meet the girl on her own level.

The kid throws herself into his arms, and he envelops her, hugging her tightly.

“I missed you so much.” BJ tells her, his voice raw with unusual emotions, and for the first time in years, his hair is back to its natural, happy green.

She buries her face into his shirt, holding on tightly to him.

After a moment he gently pushes her away.

“Look at you Kiddo! You’ve got a fancy new outfit and everything!”

The demon smiles, letting out a soft giggle through her tears, and giving him a twirl.

BJ claps for her, genuinely smiling at her.

“I’m so proud of you Kid, you look so happy.” He says, trying to keep himself composed.

“My name’s Freya now!” She says, stunning BJ for a moment.

“That’s a lovely name!” He says before turning half around to look at Lydia. “And she speaks now too?”

Lydia nods.

“She’s only spoken today.” She informs him. “She asked about you.”

Beetlejuice turns back to Freya, reaching out and ruffling her hair.

“I was the reason you finally opened up. Huh.”

She nods at him, the biggest smile still on her face.

BJ watches her for a moment, a look of pride on his face, before he straightens up, getting an idea.

He reaches forward, snatching a bright green broach, one in the shape of a beetle, from thin air.

“I, Beetlejuice Shoggoth, would like to present you with this pin, to honor this moment, and to officially invite you to be a part of my family, if you wish.” Beetlejuice says, his voice regal, a giant smile on his face.

Freya stares at the broach for a moment, before nodding.

“And, and I, Freya… Sh-Shoggoth, accept this gift and invitation.” She says, smiling.

Beetlejuice laughs softly, taking the pin and gently placing it in the middle of the bow on her chest.

Freya looks down at it and smiles, before being picked up by BJ as he stands up, taking her with him, and spinning, then setting her back down.

He pats her on the head before turning to Lydia again.

“Thank you for this Lyds.” He says, his voice carrying a serenity that was foreign for him to hear coming out of his own mouth. “I was so sick of tap, tap, tapping on the glass, waving through a window.”

Lydia raises an eyebrow at him.

“What, you don’t know Dear Evan Hansen? Come on, we were both on Broadway together for a good couple of years.” He says.

“I will never understand you.” Lydia states, and BJ just laughs.

Freya hugs BJ’s leg, staying close to him as they talk, and he looks down at her, still with his sharp smile.

“Hey Kiddo, you wanna go get Adam and Barbs so I can say hi?” He asks her.

Freya nods, and scurries over to the stairs.

As she climbs the stairs Lydia slides into one of the chairs at the table, and she motions for BJ to join her.

“Before she comes back, I want to ask you about something.”

Beetlejuice nods, turning the chair backwards and taking a seat himself.

“Go right ahead.”

Chapter 23: Things aren’t the same as before. For one, there’s less singing. And less stabbing

“If you’re so happy to come back and be around her, why did you leave in the first place?” Lydia asks BJ, getting straight to the point.

Beetlejuice purses his lips, thinking for a moment before answering her.

“There’s a… lot of reasons I told myself I had to do it. A lot of bad reasons.” He says, avoiding eye contact with her. “I thought that if I left, I wouldn’t have the pain of her leaving me. That she would just forget about me. I told myself she’d be better off without my bad influence. That you all would  treat her better if I wasn’t around. I said to myself that she’d be fine here, without me. That if I left, I couldn’t hurt her.”

“Don’t be such an idiot.” Lydia says, shaking her head at him. “You saw how happy she was to see you, it’s obvious that she wants you in her life. You being gone hurts her more than anything you could ever do while you’re with her.”

“Well I know that now. ” BJ grumbles.

“I had only seen glimpses of the smile she had on when she was down here with you. There’s obviously something about you that makes her feel safe enough to be carefree.” She points out. “Hell, she missed you so much that she spoke, that isn’t a small thing.”

BJ sighs, nodding.

“I know, I know. I did agree to come back, didn’t I?” He points out.

“Yes, but now I’m trying to get you to stay.” She explains. “For Freya’s sake. She needs you.”

Beetlejuice blinks at her for a moment, trying to register what she said.

“You’re really serious about me staying?” He asks her. “You didn’t just want me to pop in to give her a hug, and then get me out of here?”

Lydia nods.
“It’s not that I like the idea of you staying here, but I can push our past, and my feelings, aside when I need to.” She informs him. “We’ve got some room in the basement, and if you want to, you can stay there for as long as Freya stays with us.”

He stares at Lydia, before smiling, and leaning his chair forward, angling the chair to put himself as close to her as possible.

“You really mean it, Lyds?” He asks once more, his voice dripping with excitement.

She sighs, pushing his chair back.

“Yes, I mean it.” She says, rolling her eyes at him.

“HELL YEAH, WOOOOO!” He exclaims, pumping his fist into the air, and leaning back.

As he leans back further his chair starts to become unbalanced, before it dumps him on the floor.

He laughs, kicking his feet as he lies there, covering his forehead and eyes with his forearm. Lydia shakes her head, turning away, trying, and failing, to hide a smile that she can’t stop.

“Oh! You’re back!” Barbara says from the bottom of the staircase, sounding surprised.

Lydia looks up over to them, seeing Freya pulling both of them by their hands further into the room.

“Hiya Babs, how’s the parent life treating you?” He asks as he picks himself up into a standing position once more.

“It’s going well. Freya is a very lovely child.” She says, trying to recompose herself.

In a moment Freya is back at BJ’s side, and Lydia watches as she looks up to him adoringly, almost as if she’s looking at her hero, someone who saved her life.

“What are you doing back here?” Adam asks him.

BJ shrugs and points to the child at his side.

“Freya wanted me back, and I couldn’t say no to her.”

Freya nods in confirmation.

“Th-that’s right.” She says, her voice soft and still shaky.

Barbara lets out a little gasp, placing a hand over her heart, looking even more surprised.

“You spoke. You really spoke!” Adam says, looking at Freya, excited.

Freya shifts nervously, nodding.

“We’re so proud of you Sweety!” Barbara tells her.

She looks back up at the Maitlands and smiles, stepping a bit forward, but still holding onto BJ’s jacket.

“Soooo, yeah, I’m staying here now.” Beetlejuice says nonchalantly.

“Permanently?” Adam asks, looking a tad nervous.

BJ shrugs in response.

“For now at least, yeah.”

Freya smiles up at him once more, before looking at the Maitlands, her eyes dancing with excitement.

“Y-yeah! He gets to be with us now!” She says, practically jumping up and down.

The two ghosts turn towards Lydia, looking at her questioningly.

Lydia nods at them.

“There are some conditions he needs to follow, but we’ve talked it out, and he can stay for Freya’s benefits.” She explains.

“Whatever you say goes.” Adam says, trying his best to sound unconcerned, even as he keeps an eye on the demon.

Barbara walks over to her, giving her a side hug.

“I’m proud of you for coming to that decision.” Barbara tells her.

Lydia smiles at the both of them.

“Thank you, both of you, for respecting my choice to let him stay here.” She says, before shooting a glare in BJ’s direction. “And if it doesn’t work out, he’ll leave.”

“Yes sir!” BJ says, doing a mock salute.

Lydia shakes her head, ignoring him.

“Well now that that’s all settled,” Barbara starts. “Who’s down to play some Go Fish?”

Everyone around the room raises their hands, and starts getting settled as Barbara grabs the deck of cards from the closet, and Lydia can’t help but wonder if she’s made a terrible mistake.

It’s either that, or she made one of the best decisions of her life. Only time will tell.

Notes:

There's some *exciting* things in the works, which you should be seeing sometime soon, relating to this fic, that I'm very excited to share with you.

That's all you get to know for now, but look forward to some fun things

Chapter 24: Time to play: Guess That Acronym!

BJ sits on the bed he’d been given, kicking his legs impatiently. It’s early in the morning, early enough that the sun hasn’t even risen yet, and the other occupants of the house are still asleep. Or miming sleep, in the case of the ghosts upstairs.

It’s only on rare occasions that BJ ever feels truly tired, and on even rarer occasions that he actually does anything about it.

So he’s now left on his own, stuck down in the basement, waiting for morning to come so he can do something, anything.

He absolutely hates having to just wait, nothing to do. It’s so boring. But at least it gives him time to sort out his thoughts, even if that’s not something he really wants to do.

He didn’t like thinking too hard about how much the Maitlands try to avoid him. He doesn’t want to focus on the fact that Lydia has two locks on the basement door, despite the fact those locks would do nothing if he really wanted to get out.

He completely understands why they disdain him. He wasn’t exactly the nicest and most welcoming person when he first met them all. He had been so hopeful back then. So excited that he might have finally figured out a way to be summoned. He had been willing to do anything to get someone to see him, for anyone to just notice him, and like him. To find someone who was the same as him.

He sighs, shaking his head. He needs to get out of his own thoughts, that’s it. Might as well practice his RWNA, before they get even more rusty.

He takes a deep breath in, closing his eyes and focusing on the air between his hands. God it’s been too long since he’s done this, he used to be able to summon anything from the Netherworld, without even thinking about it, but now look at him.

He lets the breath out and closes his fist, opening his eyes to see a small, dark hand mirror.

“Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Beetlejuice mutters, examining the mirror.

As he does he catches a glimpse of himself, seeing his now purple hair. He knew that the high from getting invited to stay with them had faded, but he had done his best to try and ignore how far back he had slipped into depression again.

BJ runs a hand through his hair, frustrated. He can’t help but hate it. Hate how telling it is. Hate the comments people make because of it. And most of all he hates how he hasn’t found anyone else, not even a demon, that has hair like it. It’s stupid, but it’s just one more thing that makes him different.

“No one’s like me. That’s the problem.” He mutters, saying the same thing he told Barbara years ago, before he left them in the attic.

It’s one of the many things his Mom had told him growing up. It’s a belief that was ingrained in him. He just hadn’t realized exactly how true it really is.

He stares at the creature in the mirror for a moment, looking at it with disdain, before hurling the mirror at the wall, shattering on impact.

“I can do better than a mirror.” BJ states before closing his eyes once more, and trying again.

Notes:

So sorry for not updating in forever, I've been working on other projects, and time got away from me ;-;

But I have written more recently, so expect more updates.

Thanks for reading!!

Chapter 25: Will the random tidbits that get brought up ever come up again? Who knows! Guess you’ll just need to wait and see

Lydia knocks on the basement door twice, before opening it, switching on the light after a moment of peering into the dark. She looks around for a moment, seeing a shattered mirror on the floor, and the stripe wearing demon laying on the bed in one corner of the cold basement, juggling a variety of household objects.

“What happened in here?” She asks, her voice a mix of confusion, concern, and curiosity.

Beetlejuice catches the objects, one after another, from mid air, before sitting up and looking towards her.

“Hey Lyds. Finally up I see.” He says, not answering her.

She nods.

“Yeah, and so is Freya. She asked me to come get you.”

BJ shoots her a painfully forced smile, hopping off the bed, and making his way towards the door and staircase.

“Let’s go then.” He says, gesturing for Lydia to lead the way.

They climb the stairs in silence, and Lydia can’t help but think that he’s being too quiet. The BJ she remembers was always loud, hyperactive, and talkative, but the person that’s been crashing in her basement this past week seems different. At least he does when it’s just the two of them. When Barbara or Adam are around he’s his overly theatrical self, rarely showing the sadness that they can all see from his hair.

And this morning seems even worse. He just seems so closed off, and there’s no real excitement in his voice. It’s like he’s just tired and empty.

As they reach the ground floor Lydia sees Freya, standing there patiently, a soft smile on her face. She brightens even more as she sees Beetlejuice, running up to him as he emerges behind Lydia.

He smiles for her as he picks her up, and his voice is cheery as he speaks.

“Good morning Kiddo!” He says, ruffling the girl's hair.

“M-morning BJ!” She responds, sounding happy, even though her voice still shakes when she speaks.

“What do you want to do today, Freyfrey?” BJ asks her.

“I wanna make a birdhouse!” Freya answers, pointing out the window.

“Birds are lovely. I, in fact, heard one once, and it was one of the most beautiful sounds I ever heard.” He tells her.

“Whoooaaaa!” She exclaims, looking up at him, wide eyed and thoroughly impressed. “Amazing!”

“It was one of the best days of my entire existence.” BJ says with a smile, before turning to look back at Lydia. “Do we have the stuff to build a birdhouse?”

Lydia shrugs.

“I’ll go upstairs and ask Adam and Barbara. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had bought the supplies to make one when they were alive.” She responds, heading towards the stairs.

As she ascends them she hears Freya ask about what the birds sound like, and Beetlejuice doing his best to explain it, even going so far as to try and mimic the sound. Lydia shakes her head, knocking and opening the attic door as she does.

The Maitlands both look towards her as the door creaks open. Barbara’s sitting on the couch, fabric on her lap, sewing, and Adam’s on the floor, a chair in his lap, fixing its loose leg.

“Lydia! Good morning!” Barbara says, smiling at her.

“Morning.” She says, avoiding any small talk as she continues . “Do you know if we have the supplies to make a birdhouse? Freya wants to make one.”

The ghosts look at each other, mouthing silent questions and answers to each other, both racking their brains, trying to remember, before Adam sits up straight.

“Didn’t your oldest brother get you one for Christmas a few years before we died?” Adam asks Barbara, who nods.

“Yeah, I think he did.” She says.

“Would you be alright if Freya put it together?” Lydia asks her.

“Of course she’s welcome to!” Barbara answers, no hesitation.

“I’ll go find it.” Adam says, getting up from the floor.

“Thanks, both of you.” Lydia says, smiling. “I’m going to go start on an assignment that’s due soon, you can just take it downstairs when you find it.”

“Yes ma’am.” He responds, before venturing into the storage section of the attic.

Lydia nods, smiling, before heading back downstairs.

Chapter 26: A chapter about crafts and only crafts. Totally just that

“Hey Hot Stuff, Lyds send you down with the supplies?” Freya hears BJ ask above her.

She’s sitting on his lap, hands folded on top of the table. She looks up as BJ speaks, noticing Adam setting a box down onto the table.

“Here you go, a complete birdhouse craft kit.” He says, only looking at Freya.

Beetlejuice grabs the box, dragging it towards them, and starts pulling the pieces out, setting them in front of the girl.

Adam nods, smiles at Freya, and starts walking back to the stairs, before BJ catches his arm, stopping him.

“Where are you going Tupperware? Are you not going to stay and help us put it together?” Beetlejuice asks, putting on his best pout.

Adam looks uneasy, glancing between him and the staircase. Seeing this, BJ nudges Freya, tilting his head towards the nervous looking ghost.

“Work your magic kid.” He whispers.

Freya looks up at Adam, her eyes wide.

“W-would you please help me put it together?” She asks him, blinking innocently.

Adam sighs and smiles at her, tentatively sitting down next to the pair.

“Sure Freya, I’ll stay and help.”

“Yay!” Freya exclaims, a genuine smile on her face.

“Good.” BJ says, flashing Adam a toothy grin, before fishing for something in the box in front of him. “You can read the instructions.”

Beetlejuice tosses the booklet to Adam, who catches it after a bit of effort.

“Oh, uh, sure thing.” He says, a bit caught off guard.

“So what do we do?” BJ asks him.

Adam flips through the pages of the manual, trying to find where the instructions actually begin.

“It says to glue side A onto the base of the house.” Adam reads.

“Can you find the two pieces we need?” BJ asks Freya, who nods and starts searching.

After a moment she grabs two pieces, one with a sticker marking it as the base, and one a sticker with the letter A.

“These are the two we need, r-right Beebleboose?” Freya asks him.

“Yes, perfect!” He says, giving her a pat on the head. “Now, I’ll hold this, and you can put the glue on, and then we just have to let it dry. Right Antiques?”

Adam nods.

“Yes, that’s the first step.” He answers.

Freya reaches out, grabbing the tube of glue, gently squeezing it and spreading it onto the wood. Beetlejuice puts them together, holding them steady, so as to not mess it up.

Adam stares at him a moment, before shaking his head, looking baffled.

“What?” BJ asks, shooting him a half glare, half confused look.

“You’re just so different with her.” He explains. “You act so… kind around Freya. It’s not something I thought you were capable of.”

BJ just shakes his head, letting out a sigh, and turning his focus back to creating the birdhouse.

“What’s the next step?” He asks, not acknowledging what Adam said.

Adam blinks, then turns back to the instructions.

“Right. Next it says to glue on sides B and C, gluing it to both the base and side A.” He says.

Freya quickly grabs the next two pieces, handing them to the man behind her, and picking up the glue once more, squeezing it onto the areas of the wood the other two panels need to attach to.

“Great job kiddo!” BJ says, placing the other wooden pieces where they have to go, before turning his head slightly,  glancing at Adam, turning back, and lowering his voice as he speaks once more. “It’s not exactly something I thought I was capable of either. But there’s something in me that needs to make sure that she gets a better chance than I did.”

Freya looks between them, Adam staring at the purple haired man, and Beetlejuice focused completely on holding the half made house steady.

“I’m, uh, sorry.” Adam says, looking awkwardly down at the instructions.

“Don’t worry about it, A-dog.” He says, and Freya sees his arms move slightly and he shrugs. “Just tell us the next step.”

Adam nods.

“You have to attach the front, side D.” He informs them, and they do what he says, letting it dry for a moment before continuing. “And next is the roof.”

Freya quickly snatches the wooden roof off the table, and empties the rest of the glue onto the tops of the open box, BJ helping her to place the ceiling on right.

“Is it finished? Can we paint it?” Freya asks, looking up at him.

“In one moment it will be.” He says, flashing her a mischievous grin, pulling her back, and throwing a bit of fire at the miniature house, drying the glue. “Now it’s ready!”

Freya claps, looking excited, and Adam looks at BJ with horror.

“You could have burned the entire house down!” He practically shouts at him.

“Come oonnnnn, have a little faith in me, I’m not that reckless.” BJ replies, waving away Adam’s worry.

“Can we paint now?” Freya asks, sounding concerned at their rising voices.

Adam immediately switches gears, smiling softly at the girl.
“Yes, of course Sweety.”

She brightens once more, grabbing the brightest, pinkest paint in the box, and opening it excitedly.

BJ quickly grabs a paintbrush from the box, handing it to her, but there’s nothing he can do to completely avoid the mess that ensues.

By the time the birdhouse is completely painted, both Freya and Beetlejuice are covered in paint, and BJ looks down at Freya, then himself, laughing as he sees them.

“We’re a mess!” He exclaims, shaking his head, before turning towards Adam and pointing at the girl. “Will you take little Miss Can’t Aim Her Paintbrush upstairs so Babs can clean her up? I want to hang the house up to dry and get this table cleaned before Lyds sees it.”

Adam nods, an amused smile on his face.

“Sure thing.” He says, before ushering Freya towards the stairs.

Before climbing them, she turns around, seeing BJ wave at her. She smiles back, then starts ascending the staircase, a happy bounce in her step.

Notes:

I've been working on other fics as of recent, so expect updates for this to be slow, but still very much happening.

Thanks for reading!!

Chapter 27: The start of The Snow Saga

Lydia wipes the rest of the sleep from her eyes, trying to prepare herself to have a conversation with the four other people sitting at the table.

They’d all found themselves a little routine. They’d acknowledge each other in the morning, make polite small talk, and then go their separate ways, Adam and Barbara retreating upstairs, Lydia working on her college classes, and BJ staying in the basement, or sometimes wandering outside of the house, unless asked to do otherwise. The only thing that changes that routine is Freya. Any one of them will drop anything if she asks them for something. It’s almost like she has some sort of supernatural charming ability. Or maybe this is just how it is to be a parent. Lydia can’t be sure which is the case.

“The weather has been so strange recently.” Barbara comments leisurely, pulling Lydia out of her thoughts.

“Huh. Yeah, it has been.” She agrees, still sounding half asleep.

“Isn’t it usually snowing by this point?” Adam asks.

BJ avoids looking at any of the adults around the table, instead looking down, examining his black, chipped nail polish.

“Is there something you’re not telling us, Mr. Beetlejuice?” Barbara asks him.

He chuckles nervously, still not looking at any of them.

“It may be a tad bit my fault.”  He replies, trying to wave away the question.

“I knew you could control the weather!” Lydia exclaims, jumping up slightly as she slams her hands on the table in front of her.

BJ starts, pulling back away from the table in surprise, before recomposing himself.

“Jesus Lyds, no need to be so excited.” He mutters, then speaks up, doing his best to act nonchalant once more. “It’s one of my powers that got a boost after I died, so now it’s less of a conscious choice, and more a reflection of my current mood.”

Adam half raises his hand, and BJ turns to him, one eyebrow raised.

“Then why is the sky gray all the time?” Adam asks him.

“I can make it snow, if you want me to.” BJ states, deliberately ignoring his question.

“Your demonic powers got a boost after we killed you?” Lydia asks, visibly distressed.

He sighs.

“First off, Half Pint, they aren’t demonic powers. The correct term is Reality Warping Nether Abilities, or RWNA. And anyone who belongs to the Netherworld can learn and use them.” He explains, a note of annoyance in his voice. “When I died, and my soul was given back to the Netherworld, I got my powers back, and I got a bit more juiced up because of that. That’s all.”

Lydia stares at him for a moment, confusion on her face.

“Demons have souls?” She asks him.

Beetlejuice’s hair turns red for an instant, then he blinks, and it returns to its now normal purple.

“Hey Bows,” He starts, completely ignoring Lydia and her question, and turns towards Freya, who’s been sitting there, wide eyed and concerned. “Would you like to see it snow?”

Freya blinks up at him.

“W-what’s snow?” She asks.

“Snow is this fluffy white stuff that falls from the sky in this world.” BJ explains.

“It happens because sometimes it gets so cold that rain freezes.” Adam chimes in.

Freya looks between them, her face full of excitement, before a lightbulb seems to go off in her head, and her face fills with sadness.

“But rain doesn’t do anything to either of us.” She says, looking at the stripy man.

BJ flashes her a sharp, yellowed grin.

“Oh don’t worry about that Kiddo, I’ve got some tricks up my sleeves.” He says, patting her on the head. “So may I?”

Lydia looks at Barbara, who gently nods.
“It would be nice to see some snow.” Barbara says.

“Go ahead.” Lydia says, granting him permission. “But I’m going outside with you while you do it.”

“Fine by me.” BJ replies with a shrug, getting up out of his chair, and moving away from the table, before mumbling under his breath. “I don’t even need to go outside to do it though.”

Lydia quickly gets up, following behind him.

“We’ll be back in a few.” Lydia calls over her shoulder, before walking out the door with the demon.

BJ goes to the middle of the lawn, and he seems to brace himself, squeezing his eyes shut, before opening them and looking at the gray clouds.

“Hey, what’s up with you?” Lydia asks him, moving to stand directly in front of him, pulling his face down so that he looks at her.

BJ clicks his tongue, stepping backwards, and starts vigorously scratching his arm, turning his head so that he doesn’t have to look at her.

“There’s nothing ‘up’ with me, ok?” He says through gritted teeth.

“Oh? Then why have you been so dodgy this morning?”

“You say that like I’m not dodgy all the time.”

“Well, fair point. But still, you haven’t been yourself. You’ve been dodging questions, acting upset at everyone, and not saying anything unless specifically asked, and not even always doing that, which is so not you, you love being the center of attention!”

BJ lets out a low, but very annoyed, growl, finally turning to face Lydia.

“Would you please just let me do what I’m supposed to be doing?” He snaps at her.

“Not until you tell me why you’re being such a bitch.” She bites back, placing her hands on her hips.

“It doesn’t matter, there isn’t anything to it. But I’ll do my best to fix myself, I guess.” He responds, before taking another few steps back, and turning to the sky once more.

Lydia doesn’t respond, and BJ takes a deep breath in, clenching and unclenching his hands, before letting the breath out.

“C’mon sky, snow already.” BJ mutters.

Lydia looks up, seeing a snowflake gently drift down. And then another one. And another. Soon enough there's a small flurry around the house, and her vision worsens as the snow falls harder and harder.

“Hey, we should get back inside.” She suggests, reaching out, trying to find where the demon went.

As she searches her boot catches on the unlevel ground, and she’s sent careening forwards, before being suddenly caught by something.

“Whoa there, you have to be careful.” BJ says, lifting her up.

“You can turn the snow off now.” She tells him, brushing herself off.

She can barely see BJ bite his lip as he looks up towards the sky nervously.

“Yeah, no can do.” He says, sounding truly apologetic. “There were already plenty of emotions for the weather to feed off of, and that fight did not help.”

Lydia sighs, grabs his sleeve, and starts making her way back to the house.

“We better get indoors until your storm blows over then.”

Notes:

Sorry about the slower updates, I've dove into writing a bunch of shorter fics as of recent, and haven't gotten around to writing more for The Misadventures. But still, I hope you'll enjoy the start of this arc

Chapter 28: Totally a healthy way to process emotions

Barbara stares worriedly out the window, watching the snow continuing to pile up outside.

“I think you overdid it a little bit.” She says, turning towards the two people, covered in snow, in the doorway.

“Yeah, no shit Sherlock.” BJ says as he shakes the snow out of his hair.

“Is there anyways you could grab me a towel?” Lydia asks her.

Barbara nods, and heads to the closet, hearing them bicker as she walks away.

“You have to find a way to fix this.” Lydia tells him, keeping her voice low.

“I told you Lyds, I can’t stop it.” BJ replies, sounding concerned.

“Can’t you just turn the sun back on?”

“I wish it were that simple Kid, but I can’t fix this. Not like that, anyways.”

Barbara grabs a towel from the closet, and then a second one, just in case, and goes back to the duo, handing one to both of them.

“Thank you.” Lydia says as she takes the towel.

“Uh, yeah, thanks Babs.” BJ says, tossing his brown jacket at the hat rack before accepting the towel.

“No problem.” She replies, smiling at them, before nodding and walking towards the front room, sitting down on the couch next to her husband.

After a moment the two of them follow her, Lydia sitting next to the Maitlands, and Beetlejuice plops into a chair off to the side.

“It sure is coming down out there.” Adam observes.

BJ shakes his head, and everyone else remains in an awkward silence, before Freya comes running downstairs, a look of delight on her face.

“I-it’s white outside! I went upstairs to see t-the snow, and everything’s white!” She exclaims.

Barbara smiles down at Freya, her heart warming by how excited she is.

“Yes, it is! Isn’t nature and the outside world just amazing?” Barbara asks, her voice cheery.

“There’s nothing natural about this snow.” Lydia mutters under her breath.

“Ok, I get that I’m a fuck up, but could you all please just shut up about it!” BJ snaps at her, his hair turning an alarming red color.

“There is a child present!” Adam points out, covering Freya’s ears.

“Well maybe I wouldn’t be making comments if you didn’t snow us all in!” Lydia bites back, ignoring Adam.

“That wouldn’t have happened if everyone wasn’t complaining about the stupid weather!”

“The weather wouldn’t be a problem if you weren’t here, changing it!”

“I wouldn’t still be here if you hadn’t dragged me back!”

“I never even wanted you to come back here, you ruined my life!”

They’ve both stood up, and are yelling at each other, their eyes level, both fierce, and BJ opens his mouth, ready to continue before a small whimper cuts him off.

“D-d-do you hate each other?” Freya asks, her lips trembling. “I-is it my fault?”

Lydia freezes, and Beetlejuice crouches down to be on her level, the red of his hair immediately dissipating into a dull purple.

“Hey, hey, no, Freyfrey, no, it’s not your fault.” He says, doing his best to sound comforting. “You did nothing wrong, I promise Kiddo, this has nothing to do with you.”

“B-but they always said it was my fault. T-that they’d b-be happier without m-me.” She whispers, her voice shakier than normal.

Without a second thought BJ pulls her into a hug, his own arms shaking as he does. For a moment the scene is still, the only movement is the snow falling violently in the frame of the window. Lydia quietly sits down once more, looking down at her lap.

BJ gently pulls away, and looks at the girl, doing his best to smile.

“Let’s go upstairs and do something fun, shall we?” He speaks, ignoring the three other people in the room, doing his best to keep his composure.

Freya nods, and BJ sweeps her up, and takes her to the staircase, walking up them without looking at the other adults there, or acknowledging anything that happened.

Barbara shakes her head, pulling herself out of the shock and confusion, and turns to Lydia, who’s sitting, still looking shaken.

“Are you okay Honey?” Barbara asks her, placing a hand on Lydia’s shoulder.

Lydia shakes her head.
“I can’t believe I snapped like that, especially in front of the kid. Sure, I’m upset at that demon, he’s acting shadier than usual, and won’t give me a straight answer about what’s wrong, but I shouldn’t have engaged in a screaming match with him.” She vents, before letting out a huge sigh. “I just can’t help but be worried that the reason he’s acting like this is that he’s planning something.”

Barbara gives her a hug, and Lydia leans into it, her shoulders still slumped.

“Don’t worry Lydia, if he is planning something, we’ll stop him. We have done it once before.” Adam states.

“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.” Barbara replies.

Lydia nods, doing her best to pull herself together.

“Yeah. Yeah, you guys are right. Thank you.”

Chapter 29: I would not have guessed that she’s so good with kids

Freya walks down the stairs, trying her best to be quiet so as to not wake up Adam and Barbara in the attic.

She had tossed and turned all night, and had woken up at the first ray of light to filter through her windows.

Even in the silent house she can feel the tension. They had all been so loud yesterday, and Freya just can’t understand it. The older two never seem to be at ease when BJ is around, and sometimes he and Lydia seemed to fight, but even when they did, BJ seemed to just be happy that he was around her. Same goes for the Maitlands as well. But now he seems so antsy, and like he could bolt again, at any minute, and to Freya it seems like that’s what’s throwing everyone else off.

No one’s told her about how they all know each other, and Freya’s too nervous to ask. She had always been told not to pry, and she’s already burdening these people too much.

She reaches the bottom of the stairs and looks around, tiptoeing to the stairs to the basement, before being caught from behind.
“What are you doing up Freya?” Lydia asks, her voice hushed.

Freya just looks down, cheeks flushed from the embarrassment of getting caught.

Lydia sighs, letting go of the back of her dress.

“Don’t stress about it, I know I’ve snuck out of my room more times than I can count.” She says with a laugh, before getting serious. “Besides, it’s your house now too, you don’t have to get permission to wander around.”

Freya nods, looking up at her and giving her a soft, nervous smile, before she looks down, too scared to look Lydia in the eye as she speaks.

“D-do you hate Beetlejuice?” Freya asks her.

Lydia opens her mouth to speak, before pausing, and closing it, thinking for a moment.

“I wouldn’t say I hate him. At least not completely.” Lydia says, trying to explain the feelings that she doesn’t even understand. “He did something a long time ago that hurt me a lot, and I just haven’t been able to forgive him yet.”

“But didn’t Adam and Barbara say that i-if you hold grudges, you’ll o-only get hurt?” Freya asks, her eyes wide and innocent.

“You’re right kid, you’re right.” Lydia replies, ruffling her hair with a slightly pained smile.

Freya smiles up at her, looking pleased about remembering something so important.

“Wanna come with me to the kitchen? I have some tea to finish, and I can make you a cup of hot cocoa.” Lydia offers, and the girl nods enthusiastically, taking her hand and pulling her towards the kitchen.

Freya climbs up onto a stool in the kitchen, watching Lydia as she puts more water into the electric kettle, warming the water for the hot chocolate.

“Freya, I have a question for you, if you don’t mind.” Lydia says, looking back at her.

Freya nods, giving her the okay to continue.

“Do you like the demon who brought you here?”

Freya immediately starts nodding.

“Y-yes! He’s my hero!” She responds, looking genuinely happy as she talks.

Lydia blinks, taking in her response, before softly smiling and shaking her head.

“It’s a wonder how people's opinions of others can be so different.” She mutters as she finishes making the hot chocolate, handing it to her with a smile. “Here.”

Freya takes it, excited to try the drink.

“T-thank you!” She says.

Lydia nods, pulling up a stool of her own, sitting next to the kid.

“Hey Freya.”

“Mmh?”

“I’ll do my best to think about letting that grudge go.”

Freya turns to her, absolute delight on her face.

“Th-thank you!” She says, looking up at her, eyes sparkling. “I don’t want my family to fight, I w-want you all to get along, s-so we’ll stay together, forever!”

Lydia looks down at her, giving her a pat on the head.

“Don’t worry kid, even if we don’t get along, you don’t need to worry about us not staying together, we’ll make it work.”

Notes:

Sooooo, funny story, after writing a bunch of one shots/short fics, I decided to take on the project of rewriting my first fic/fic series, so, yeah, updates for this will still be slow, but I will be writing new chapters soon (yes, we still have caught up to where I've written to, but I don't want to get there quickly and then not have anything new for you guys for awhile. So please, be patient with me <3)

Chapter 30: You keep this quiet too

Lydia stands at the bottom of the staircase, knocking at the basement door.

“Hey, it’s morning now, time to get up.” She calls through the door, getting no response. “I know yesterday was… bad, but Freya still wants to see you, so you gotta get up.”

Still no answer.

Lydia lets out a sigh, opening the door, and stepping into the dim basement.

“Come on, yo-”

“I’m not interested in hearing your sob story this year, go yell at someone else about the start of the biggest mistake of your existence, and let me be.” BJ cuts her off.

Lydia freezes, eyes fixed on the striped demon lying curled up on the bed in the corner. His hands are buried in his dark purple hair, and his eyes are squeezed shut.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

BJ’s eyes open, and he looks up at her, before scrambling into a sitting position.

“Oh. Lyds. Hi.” He says, clearing his throat awkwardly afterwards.

“Did something happen?” Lydia asks him, studying the way he nervously taps on the bed frame.

He shakes his head, getting up off the bed, and pushes Lydia towards the door.

“How about you go upstairs, leave me down here for today, and forget that that ever happened.” BJ suggests, his voice tense.

Lydia catches herself on the door frame, breaking free from Beetlejuice’s grip, and turning around to face the disheveled man.

“Nothing will get better if we just avoid each other, so please, at least be present up there instead of just hiding down here.” She requests.

BJ sighs, then shrugs, seeming defeated.

“Fine, whatever.”

Lydia tries to smile at him, but he just ignores it, gesturing for her to walk up the stairs.

Freya’s sitting at the table, kicking her legs as she watches the snow fall in the window.

“Beebleboose, good morning!” She says, a smile on her face.

“Morning.” He mumbles, sitting a couple of chairs away from her, absentmindedly scratching his wrist as he does.

Lydia sits in between them, noting the way BJ scoots slightly, eyes darting around.

“W-what’s wrong?” Freya asks him, looking thoroughly concerned.

“I’m fine Kiddo, don’t worry about it.” He replies, his words clipped.

She shies away from him, and Lydia sighs, turning to the girl.

“Don’t mind him, Freya.” She says, giving her a pat on the head. “Why don’t you go hangout with Adam and Barbara upstairs while I make breakfast?”

Freya nods, hopping down from her chair, and scurrying up to the attic. Lydia gets up herself, grabbing BJ by the sleeve, and pulling him to the kitchen with her.

“You could’ve just asked.” He grumbles, dragging his feet.

“Like I’d trust you to actually follow.” She retorts.

He shrugs, leaning against the counter, watching Lydia as she grabs a muffin mix from the cabinet.

“You’re acting even more off today than you were yesterday, something obviously happened.” Lydia states as she opens the box.

“I’ve told you, nothing happened. Now please, stop bringing it up.” He says, still scratching his arm and looking uneasy. “I should be fine by tomorrow.”

Lydia looks at him, shakes her head, and starts pouring the mix into the bowl, making the muffins as she continues the conversation.

“You could still at least explain what’s going on. Maybe I could help.” She offers.

“Oh, like you’d even care. Anytime I tried, it would always be ‘Grow up Lawrence’ ‘Stop whining Lawrence’ ‘You make my existence worse than I make yours, so shut up Lawrence’, and I’m sick of it!” Beetlejuice snaps at her.

Then he freezes, and they both stare at each other, Lydia looking confused and concerned, BJ looking at her like he just destroyed an antique family heirloom.

“That… wasn’t meant for you.” BJ says, his voice barely above a whisper.

There’s a stunned silence for a moment, neither of them moving, before Beetlejuice breaks eye contact, looking down and scratching his forearm once more.

“Would you stop doing that?” Lydia says, grabbing his hand and pulling it away from his arm, looking down at it, noticing the sticky dark substance on his fingers. “Oh shit, you’re bleeding.”

BJ looks at his hand, then his arm.

“Huh. I guess I am.” He says numbly.

“Sit down, I’ll go get the first aid kit.” Lydia says, pulling him towards a stool.

“It’s fine, I can barely feel it anyways.” BJ objects, but doesn’t resist as she pushes him into the seat.

“Stay there.” She tells him, running into the bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit, and going back to the kitchen.

She grabs a cotton pad and an ace bandage wrap. Lydia gently grabs his arm, and as she rolls the rest of his sleeve up.

BJ’s face twitches, but she ignores it, getting a wet paper towel and doing her best to clean off the blood.

“You really don’t need to bother, I’ve dealt with worse, it’s only a scratch.” Beetlejuice grumbles.

“Does that have to do with the way you’ve been acting?”

BJ makes a noncommittal noise, dodging the question.

“I’m not letting you leave this kitchen until you give me a straight answer.” Lydia informs him as she works.

Beetlejuice sighs, finally giving into her persistence.

“Fiiiine. It’s my parents' anniversary, and every year when it rolled around my Mom got even worse. She made my life, in literal hell, hell. And this stupid thing,” He says, hitting the side of his head with his hand as he does. “Keeps shooting me back there, telling me that she’s going to show up. Telling me that I’m back home…”

His voice trails off, and he stares down at the arm that Lydia’s wrapping, eyes vacant. She looks up at him, seeing the terror deep within him.

“Does this happen every year?” She asks him, her voice gentle.

Beetlejuice nods.

“Yeah, that’s why I’ve been insisting that I’ll be fine soon. It’s how it always goes, and I just want to get it over with as painlessly as possible and go back to my brain being normal.” He says, before pausing and giving her a small smile. “Or as normal as my brain can get.”

Lydia finishes wrapping his arm, patting it gently, before rolling his sleeve back down.

“I’m sorry for pressing it, and making this whole thing harder on you.” She says begrudgingly. “But if something like this is bothering you, you can talk to me about it. Better than you bottling it all up and having it explode into another disaster like last time.”

BJ looks at her, biting his lip before speaking.

“How can I when you hate me? You said it yourself, I ruined your life.” He tries explaining, before his voice becomes even quieter. “How am I supposed to do that when that’s exactly what she told me.”

Lydia sighs, fiddling with another roll of bandages as she tries to gather her thoughts.

“That isn’t true. You sure as hell traumatized me, but I was going to be traumatized by that point in my life one way or another, you’ve just been someone easy to pin the blame on. I said that in the heat of the moment, but you’re one of the reasons I got through the hardest time I’ve ever been through.” She explains. “I can’t say that I particularly like you, but I know that’s because when I think of you, I think of the demon who forced me to marry him, not the broken person you are, and being around you after all these years is helping redefine that image, even if it still is taking awhile for me to get used to you again.”

BJ looks up at her, taking in what she said, before slowly smiling at her.

“Does that mean one day we could finally be friends?” He asks her, eyes shining.

“Don’t you mean friends again?” Lydia asks him, ruffling his hair as she stands up.

“Hey, that’s my job!” He says, chuckling, and following her up, doing his best to ruffle her hair in return.

She laughs, pushing his arm away, before catching a glimpse of the window, seeing the snow finally start to die down.

“Well would you look at that.” She mumbles, catching BJ’s attention.

He looks out the window, looking a bit surprised to see the weather calming.

“Huh. I guess talking did work.” He says, sounding genuinely surprised, before turning back to Lydia. “But can we keep this whole thing between us? I don’t want my reputation to be tainted by people finding out I regulated my emotions via a heart to heart and not stabbing someone.”

Lydia laughs, shaking her head at him.

“Sure, I’ll keep it quiet.” She agrees.

“Now, let us eat, then capitalize on the mess outside and get the girl out into the snow.” He decides, making his way towards the stairs.

“We better use it, or else this whole thing would be a waste.” Lydia says with a sigh.

Notes:

We. Are. BACK

So sorry for taking so long to update, I got a little wrapped up writing some other fics, but have finally gotten back to this one.

Expect more frequent updates, and even more angst- I MEAN CUTE WHOLESOME FAMILY STUFF, NO ANGST AT ALL, JUST DISREGARD THIS CHAPTER (xD)

I hope you stick around, and thank you for being patient with me :3

Chapter 31: The Snow Saga ends

BJ zips up Freya’s coat, adjusting it, before standing up and putting his own, much tattier jacket on.

“Ready to go outside, Frey?” He asks her.

She nods excitedly, and BJ turns his head, looking at Lydia, who’s in a dark heavy coat and black gloves. Lydia gives him a thumbs up and a smile, and he reaches for the doorknob, opening it, letting the cold air in, and letting them out.

Freya rushes outside, running around in the snow, expression bright and excited, the other two following behind her.

“When there isn’t a blizzard happening, snow does look pretty nice.” BJ muses, surveying the landscape.

“Hey Freya,” Lydia starts, getting the demon’s attention. “Would you like to make a snowman?”

Freya waddles through the snow over to her, looking up at her.

“W-what’s a snowman?” She asks.

“It’s something most humans make when it snows. You stack three large snowballs on top of each other, and then you give it arms and a face.” She explains, Freya hanging onto every word.

“I-I would love to make one!”

Lydia smiles at the girl, and she kneels down, starting to pack snow together. Beetlejuice sits on the cold ground, watching as Lydia teaches Freya how to make a snowball, and then how to make it bigger by rolling it on the ground.

After a few moments they stack three large snowballs together, and Lydia grabs a few broken sticks, shoving them into the snowman, then lifts Freya up, letting her draw the face onto the top of the snowman, clapping as they finish putting it together.

BJ watches them for a moment, before he scoops up a bit of snow, packing it down, taking aim, and tossing it with a sly smile.

PWAT

Lydia turns around, the remains of the snowball falling from her hair. Beetlejuice waves a fingerless gloved hand at her, giving her a sharp grin, and ducking as Lydia chucks a snowball in his direction.

“Get over here so I can get you!” Lydia shouts, laughing as she scoops up more snow.

BJ dances to the side, cackling as another snowball whizzes by.

“Come on Lyds, you gotta be better than tha-”

PWAT

Beetlejuice stumbles backwards, wiping snow off his face. Freya is across from him, giggling with another snowball in hand.

“Oh, you’ll both get it now!” He yells, a wide grin on his face as he grabs more snow.

BJ chases the two of them, focusing on hitting Lydia a bit more than the kid, but still taking equal opportunity shots, and getting hit more times then he gets them.

He rolls behind the cover of a tree, forming more snowballs while sheltered.

“It’s not faaaaiiiirrr, there’s two of you and only one of me.” He whines, but there’s a distinct cheeriness to his voice. “Or is there?”

Beetlejuice pops out from behind the tree, his hair a vibrant green, as Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, and Beetlejuice pop out behind him, all holding snowballs and pelting the two girls with them.

Freya squeals, and Lydia holds up her arm, doing her best to not get hit in the face, and they can hear BJ cackle once more as he ducks behind the tree once more, the copies of him disappearing as he does so.

After a moment he dashes out again, chucking a snowball at Lydia. As he does Freya throws one at him, hitting BJ directly in the chest. He stumbles backwards, before dramatically falling over into the snow. Both of them rush over to him, snowballs in hand.

“You’ve finally got me.” He says, ignoring the fact that he had been hit multiple times before.

“Yeah, and we’ll get you again if you don’t surrender.” Lydia informs him with a smile, placing her foot on top of his chest, stopping him from being able to get up.

“I give, I give, you win.” He says, showing them his empty hands.

“Good.” Lydia says, taking her boot off of him, then reaching down and offering BJ her hand.

BJ takes it, letting out a sigh, before grinning at the two of them.

“That was fun, we should do it again sometimes.” He says.

“Y-yeah, we should!” Freya agrees, spinning around in the snow.

They both stand there, watching her for a minute as she runs in the white fluff.

“Hey Stripes,” Lydia starts.

“What’ssup?”

“Thanks for making it snow. It made Freya really happy.”

“No problem Kid, just doing my job.”

Lydia shakes her head, a soft smile on her face.

“We both know you’re doing more than that.”

Beetlejuice just shrugs, turning back to the demon playing in the snow.

“It really is just the least I can do for her.”

Notes:

Sooooo, I may have underestimated how strong a couple hyperfixations I have are.... And I'm working on *another* WtNV fic (if any of you have checked my profile.... yeah, I've written quite a few of em)

Which means I haven't actually written any new chapters.... which means I've been hesitant to post what I have...

After I finish the one I'm working on, I'll get back to this.

Or maybe the one after.

Soon!

I'm trying!

I still do think about it quite a bit!

It's not abandoned, at the very least!

Chapter 32: Maybe one day…

Freya sits on Beetlejuice’s lap, coloring a picture of a cottage during what she assumes to be night time.

“BJ,” The girl starts, trying to get his attention.

He leans down, putting his face next to hers.

“What’cha need Kiddo?” BJ asks.

“W-what are these pointy things?” Freya asks, pointing at the sky on her coloring page.

“Uhhhhh,” He hesitates, squinting at the paper. “I…. don’t know. HEY LYDS!”

There’s some rustling in the kitchen, and in a moment she appears, walking to the back of the couch, and leaning over it, looking at the two of them.

“You guys need something?” Lydia asks them.

Freya and Beetlejuice look at each other, exchanging glances before he gives Lydia an answer.

“What the hell are these things?” He asks, holding up Freya’s coloring book, pointing at the sky.

Lydia looks between the two of them and the paper, confusion on her face.

“Do neither of you know what stars are?” She asks.

Freya shakes her head, and BJ stares at her.

“ That’s what stars are supposed to look like?” He asks, his voice full of bafflement.

“Well, not exactly. But that’s how humanity has decided they should be depicted, so that’s what they look like now.” She says with a shrug.

“Can w-we look at the stars?” Freya requests.

Lydia smiles at her, patting her on the head.

“Tonight is a clear night, and we’re pretty fair away from the heart of the city, so we should be able to see some stars.” She offers.

Freya looks up at her, beaming, and nodding her head excitedly.

“So we can?”

“Yes, we can.”

Now it’s BJ’s turn to look between the two of them.

“And am I invited to your little stargazing girls night?” He asks them, blinking as innocently as he can at Lydia.

She sighs, shaking her head with a smile.

“Whatever BJ, you can tag along too.” She says.

“Hell yeah!” He exclaims, pumping his arms up.

Freya giggles, and Beetlejuice ruffles her head, before turning back to Lydia.

“So where do you want us to go to see these stars?” He asks her.

“Just onto the roof. We’ll have a fine enough view from there.” She replies.

BJ nods, and stands up, hoisting Freya onto his shoulder, and she has to grab his green hair to avoid falling off.

“Shall we?” BJ asks.

Lydia nods, and gestures towards the staircase.

“After you.” She says.

BJ nods, walking up the stairs, and in a few moments the three of them are on the roof. Beetlejuice picks the girl up off his shoulders, gently places her on the ground, and kneels down, pointing at the sky.

“Those are stars.” He says, gesturing to the whole sky. “And I’ve heard there are tons of them in the sky.”

“Whoa.” Freya says, the wonder clear in her voice, before she squints, trying to pull the blurry dots into focus. “A-are they always that fuzzy?”

Lydia kneels down next to them, looking at the sky, confusion on her face.

“The stars are actually pretty clear tonight.” Lydia says.

“Maybe to a breather.” BJ snorts.

“Do they look different to demons?” She asks him.

“Everything does Scarecrow. Your realm is all muted to residents of the Netherworld since we’re not tuned into your wavelength. It’s even worse for those of us who were born there.” He explains, ruffling Freya’s hair as he says the last part.

“Oh, I had no idea.” She says, her voice apologetic.

“Don’t worry about it Kid, even most people from the Netherworld don’t know about it.” He says with a shrug, waving her off.

“Is that why you both wear bright clothing?” Lydia asks.

“Bingo, bingo, someone get this girl a prize.” He replies, his tone light.

“W-will I ever be able to see this w-world like breathers do?” Freya asks them both innocently.

Beetlejuice and Lydia both hesitate, exchanging glances.

“Well, I’m sure maybe one day…” Lydia starts, before her voice trails off.

“Listen Kiddo,” BJ says, sighing, sitting down on the roof, and leaning back, looking towards the stars. “There are ways that you can. All of them require becoming alive, and most of them require external help. You may be given the chance one day, but there are some things that complicate it.”

“If I need help…. Why don’t you two help me?” She asks, her question genuine.

“I swear, demon parents are the worst, they never teach their kids anything.” Beetlejuice mumbles under his breath, before turning towards the girl, and gently placing his hands on her shoulders. “It takes a lot to make someone alive, and I don’t think either of us have it in them to do that, Freyfrey. You may be able to find someone to help you in the future, bu-”

“I don’t think I can do it right now, but in the future, after you’re all grown up, I can help you.” Lydia says, cutting BJ off.

“R-really? Thank you!” Freya says, turning and smiling at her.

Beetlejuice turns to Lydia, staring at her, absolutely dumbfounded.

“You’re really gonna promise that to the Kid? Even before you know all the ways to bring someone to life?” He asks her.

All Lydia does is shrug.

“I’m sure we can find a way to make it happen.” She replies, keeping her words short.

BJ just shakes his head, turning back to the sky.

Freya looks between the two of them.

“I-is there something I should know?” She questions them.

“We’ll tell you when you’re older.” BJ promises, patting her on the top of the head.

Lydia nods, agreeing with his decision.

Freya pouts, sticking her bottom lip out, and BJ chuckles.

“Come on Frey, it really isn’t that exciting.” He tells her.

“Then why can’t I find out about it now?”

Lydia sighs, looking at her.

“It’s not that you can’t learn about it, it’s that we’re not ready to talk about it yet.” She explains to Freya.

After a moment Freya nods, looking satisfied.

“Yeah… that makes sense.” She says, not pressing it any further.

They sit in silence for a moment, all staring up at the starry sky, before BJ turns towards the girls.

“I think it’s someone's bedtime now.” He says, pointing at Freya.

“Five more minutes.” Freya says, shaking her head.

BJ glances up to Lydia, who shrugs.

“Sure, five more minutes.” She says with a smile.

Notes:

Guys, I actually did it, I started writing this fic again

.... And then google docs deleted part of my progress, BUT ITS OKAY, I'm not giving up, and I'm rewriting it as we speak. Or, will be getting back at it once I finish publishing this chapter, anyways

Point is, expect more frequent updates :D

Thanks as always for reading!

And oh yeah, if in about 20 chapters there's a drastic shift in the writing style, it's because I have a couple dozen more fics and WIPs under my belt, so experience has been gained

Chapter 33: A Bland Ass Story For A Boring Ass Couple

“And done!” Barbara exclaims as she finishes tying the thread of Freya’s new pink jacket.

“It looks lovely Dear.” Adam says, smiling at his wife. “Would you like me to get Freya so she can try it on?”

“That would be much appreciated.” Barbara answers, and Adam dashes down the stairs, following her bidding.

She’s left alone in the attic for a few moments, and she starts packing up her sewing machine as she waits.

“Here they are…” Adam says reluctantly, his voice trailing off.

Barbara turns around, looking at the doorway, and sees the two demons.

“Hiya Babs!” BJ says.

“Hi!” Freya says, waving at Barbara while she’s in BJ’s arms.

“Sorry about bringing both of them.” Adam says to his wife. “It seems like they’re a package deal now.”

BJ looks at Barbara, gives her a tight, forced smile, and swiftly kicks Adam in the back of the knee, while still keeping eye contact with her.

“Ow!”

“We don’t make jokes like that with the Kid around.” He says, still keeping the tense smile.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Adam states, rubbing his leg.

Beetlejuice shrugs, grabbing a chair, sitting, and setting Freya down.

“Go over to Barbs now, she needs you to try something on.” BJ instructs her.

Freya nods, running over to Barbara, who smiles at the girl.

“Here you go.” Barbara says, helping her into the jacket.

Freya does a small twirl, showing off her fancy new jacket to all three of them. Barbara and Adam clap, and BJ just smiles at the girl. She takes a bow, before going back to BJ, and climbing onto his lap.

“A-Adam, Barbara, how did you two meet?” Freya asks them, a genuine curiosity in her voice.

“Oh, it’s not an exciting story, I wouldn’t want to bore you.” Barbara says, waving her off.

“Our story isn’t boring.” Adam objects, sitting next to his wife once more.

“But the two demons might not be interested in it. I’m sure they’ve heard much more exciting tales from other ghosts.”

She argues.

“But now I’m curious too.” BJ interjects. “How did Tupperware and White Wine get together?”

Adam lets out a small sigh at the nicknames, before smiling, and turning towards his wife.

“See, they want to hear it, so let's tell them.” Adam urges.

“Alright, alright.” Barbara relents. “It all started back in high school. You see, Adam was in the club that handled making the yearbook, and he was sent to take pictures of everyone-”

“And that’s when I met the most beautiful woman.” Adam interrupts, continuing the story from his perspective. “I was drawn to her smile, and her talent for creating. I told her how lovely her ceramics were, and we got chatting-”

“And we really hit it off. I mean, he was so nice to talk to, and he seemed really interested in what I had to say. We exchanged contact information, and hung out a few times after that.”

“Then we both graduated, and didn’t talk much, since we both went to separate colleges. Barbara went to one to major in Fine Arts, and I started out majoring in Business-”

“I can still remember you telling me about how much you hated that major. You’re too good for the corporate world, they never deserved you-”

“And so I switched majors, and colleges, and started majoring in English. When I walked into one of my first classes, I can’t even remember which one it was, there was no one there I knew, and something must have possessed me, because I decided to sit right there, in the middle of the classroom, and then-”

“Then I walked in, and all the seats were full. Except one. One right in the middle, next to Adam. It must have been fate, because I didn’t even realize it was him sitting there until I walked to my seat, and-”

“We started talking like no time ever passed. It just felt natural and right. And then the rest is history.” Adam finishes.

Freya claps at their story, and Beetlejuice looks between the two of them for a moment.

“You know, I was expecting your story to make you two more interesting, not less.” He flatly states.

Barbara sighs, and Adam just shakes his head.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s exciting or not, since I remember it fondly. It is how I met the love of my life.” Adam says, giving Barbara’s hand a squeeze.

BJ rolls his eyes, setting Freya down, before getting up.

“Welp, time to go talk to a less boring person.” He says, walking out the attic door.

All three of them look at the door for a moment, before turning their attention back to each other.

“Well, who wants to go downstairs and bake cookies?” Barbara asks.

Notes:

Thank you all so much for making this reach nine *hundred* hits. It's honestly insane to me, thank you :D <3