Mixed it up Together: a Beetlejuice AU (a collab with GreatestShowman123)

Us Invisibles...

The Maitlands exchanged glances with the strange girl in the attic. THEIR attic. Adam felt guilty about asking Lydia his next question, but he was more or less determined to reclaim their home.

"So...." Adam clasped his hands together. "Since you can see us, I guess I'll get right to the point: would you mind leaving and never coming back?"

"Adam!" Barbara stated, in a clearly admonished tone, scowling at her husband. Astounded that he could say such a thing to a visibly unhappy girl. Adam's attention flicked away from Lydia and towards his wife.

"I'm not talking about her, I'm talking about her family," Adam asserted, attempting to protect himself.

"We're not a family," Lydia rectified, looking down and letting out a sorrowful sigh. "We're just a mother, a daughter, and a Lawrence!"

"Your father, he—" Barbara began, before Lydia interjected.

"He died..." Lydia kept her head down, not bothering to look back up at the Maitlands.

"O-oh, honey... I'm so sorry," Barbara sympathized before placing her hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Me as well..." Lydia finally looked back up at the Maitlands, what appeared to be a still as sorrowful, but still gentle look in her eyes. "But he'd love this. God, I'm talking about REAL ghosts. REAL LIFE ghosts."

Lydia'd screamed a little, as she spoke, but the Maitlands didn't seem to be too bothered.

She took her black camera from around her neck and turned it on, scrolling through all of her photographs and locating the last ones that she had of her father. She turned her camera around to show the Maitlands (when Barbara'd asked, of course).

One of the photographs showed her father laying in the snow outside and pretending to be shot (in reality, Lydia and Emily had just pelted him with snowballs) whilst a younger version of Lydia giggled in the background. Another showed her father dressed as the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, while Lydia, at her request, was the ghost of a chicken. Lydia smiled sorrowfully and softly at the memories, wiping away the silent tears that welled up in her eyes.

"You look exactly like him!" Barbara gave Lydia a kind grin.

"Thanks," Lydia responded with a quiet laugh, turning her camera off and placing it back around her neck. "Every year, we had a horror theme. But it was during the summer so no one expected it! It was a lot of fun making everyone scream in terror."

Lydia let out another laugh before her eyes shifted from her camera to the Maitlands.

"I apologize," Lydia continued, lowering her gaze now. "I didn't mean to bore you guys by talking about my father."

"Oh, it's not a problem. We don't mind," Barbara spoke confidently, giving Lydia a grin that matched.

"Really, my mom almost never wants to talk about him unless it's necessary. Sometimes, she acts like it's against the law in my house to even mention him. Other times, she seems to be more than happy to bring him up and talk about him. It's rare for her to do so though."

Adam let out a triumphant chuckle. "Well, I'm definitely not seeing any cops around here."

"Adam'! That was awful!" Barbara scorned, expressing her displeasure with her husband's non-comedic joke.

"No, that was adorable." Lydia let out another laugh. "It was, like, the perfect dad joke."

"Well...." Adam put a hand on Lydia's shoulder. "I'm just gonna warn you: I have a million of them, and I never got to use them, any of them, while I was alive! So—"

Adam went silent and regretfully looked down. Barbara had a devastated look in her eyes.

"May I ask what happened," Lydia inquired, looking between both of the ghosts. "It's fine if you don't want to say anything. I don't always want to talk about my own difficulties, so it's fine. Really."

"I miscarried, two months before we died," Barbara acknowledged, regretfully. Lydia nodded with a look of sorrow for Barbara.

"I like you two!" Lydia stated, changing the subject. "This is the first time I've shown gratitude since we arrived!"

"This is the first time we've been thanked, since we died..." Barbara stated, sounding a little calmer and a little better now.

"I don't have that many friends, so it's comforting to know that I have you guys in the attic at least, if I have to stay in this stupid house!"

Adam tried to be quiet, but he couldn't exactly allow anybody to mock all of his hard work after destroying it. As a matter-of-factly, he stated, "I'm sorry, but I have to say it: this house is not stupid! It's a traditional Victorian, complete with the original crown molding."

"Adam!" Barbara hissed, elbowing him. Adam continued.

"And your mother has made some major design errors!"

"Adam!" Barbara repeated, this time in a quiet, hushed tone. "No. That's not why she dislikes it here."

A silence befell the room, lasting only a few moments when Adam spoke again. "I know. I'm just simply saying that it's not working!"

Lydia pondered quietly to herself for a few minutes before coming up with what she knew was a good suggestion. Her attention focused back on the Maitlands. Speaking up, Lydia cut them off before they started arguing.

"Perhaps we could help each other?"

The Maitlands turned back to her at the exact same time. "What exactly do you mean?"

"You said you wanted your house back, right?" Lydia agreed. The Maitlands exchanged a determined glance and nodded. Lydia continued. "Well, that's exactly what I want too. So, let's frighten my mother and Lawrence. We'll have to leave once they realize the house is haunted."

"But, we're invisible!" Barbara objected, after sharing yet another glance with Adam. This one uncertain. "Your mother and Lawrence aren't able to see us."

Adam nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with his wife's words.

"My mom doesn't see me either sometimes," Lydia reminded the Maitlands, a determined but still small smirklike smile flashing across her face. "Come on! We're all invisible to the living world and us invisibles need to stick together!"

"Barbara?" Adam, sounding uncertain, sought approval from his wife.

"Let's get started!" Barbara jeered, with a little hint of excitement mixed in, and the two of them exchanged quick high fives with one another and with Lydia. "Now what's the game plan, Lydia?"