The Weekend

The Heartache

You cleared up the table. Collecting plates as you spoke "Yeah I moved up pretty recently in light of the business arrangement my dad and Charles made. Sure, the move was sudden and very hectic – but I think it was worth it. It's a gorgeous little town." You walked over to the dishwasher, sliding all the dirty dishes into its specific compartments.

Once again it was recap time, but a delightful one. Barbara and Adam were the sweetest couples you have ever encountered, and it warmed you to see how interested they were in your life. And you gladly shared your attention into their own lives – well their afterlives. Turns out they had made their own DIY graves. By falling through the floor. You eyed up the spot they fell through, only a mere couple metres from where you were situated. How comforting.

"Oh! We also noticed that uh...he wasn't here? Please tell me he's not here—" Adam looked around nervously, Barbara mirroring him. Lydia laughed "No, he said he had to go somewhere last night." You realized they were referring to Beetlejuice and you tried to hide a smile. "Hah, that's good...I think. We just need to know when he's around because he tends to ambush us when we least expect-" Barbara didn't even have time to finish her sentence before Adam squealed in fear. Shooting up from the dining room chair, he squirmed to the nearest corner away from the table as Beetlejuice wriggled out from underneath it whilst making grabbing and squeezing hand gestures as he cackled. "YOU LITERALLY SET UP THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO STRIKE I WASN'T EVEN PLANNING TO GET YOU THIS TIME AHAHAH—"

Beetlejuice rolled around the floor losing his shit at his surprise attack for a solid minute before he pulled himself together to stand up and get into the Maitland's personal space. Adam tried to look angry, but it came off as sad pout. "Aww, what? No hugs? C'mon, not even a kissie wissie?" Beetlejuice walked forward with his hands clasped as he tried to smooch them while they dodged to another part of the room. "BeetleJUICE WE HAVE BOUNDRIES WE'VE GONE THROUGH THIS-" they both wailed as Adam and Barbara retreated to another spot. Beetlejuice responded giggling while hot on their trail "BUT THE SAYING IS, "THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER" JUST LIKE THAT SUPER OLD SONG AND MY SUMMONING – OH! OH! AND THREESOMES!! GUYS? GUYS??"

During this ordeal as Lydia was snicking at his antics, you felt a pang of sadness as your stomach dropped. Ouch. You felt far more disheartened about thinking Beetlejuice felt something for you if he was acting like this to Adam and Barbara. Maybe it was just how he treated everyone. You fumbled with your hands not just because you were sad, but you were disappointed in yourself that you mistook his dumb quips and flirting for a legitimate attraction towards you.You took a deep breath as you made sure to prevent the feeling of dread from erupting out of you as you directed yourself towards Lydia. "Hey, I was thinking we should go shopping today. There were some great clothes in the shop windows when I drove over here. We should totally check it out." You forced a smile on your face even though your eyes protested with a slight twitch. Lydia seemed surprised by your proposition but obliged.

"Sure! Could Beej come with?" you cringed at the question. "Hmm, I was hoping for it to be a Gals-Day-out kinda schtick. We haven't spent a lot of time together as the best duo ever, y' know?" you squeezed her shoulder as she nodded in agreement. You snuck over to grab your purse and keys as you and Lydia creeped out the house before Beetlejuice, Adam or Barbara could notice. That was a couple of hours ago. You and Lydia have spent a lovely time shopping together. She managed to pick out some great clothes as did you. You even picked out something a little more fancy since that was a rarity in your fashion selection.

This quality time hanging out with her reminded you of when your families would meet up for a large parties at either of your houses when you were only kids. The adults usually stuck to their own while you and Lydia would play hide and seek except with a twist that sometimes Lydia's mom would be the "crazy axe murderer" trying to find you two. It was a kind of fucked-up prompt for such a kid-friendly game when you think about it now, but you had fun regardless. Lydia's mom would really sell the part as she'd wield the axe and scream bloody murder when she would find you two. It was hilariously terrifying.

Breaking out of your thoughts you looked over to see Lydia cheerfully slurping on a slushie while you had your favourite ice-cream in hand. Various bags of clothes were slumped at both of your feet as you both had decided to go to a park bench to relax for a moment. It was relieving to see Lydia was far happier than she was after yesterday. That was all you could ask for. It was quiet for a good moment and you relished it in. The trees swayed softly in the breeze as you saw people walking across the green terrain with their dogs. All in all, a great day."Hey, do you think BJ will be mad that we left him behind?" Lydia finally spoke out.

Oh. You forgot about him.

You low-key used the shopping-spree as an excuse to distance yourself from him so you could collect your thoughts and feelings before you'd burst into a puddle of social anxiety in front of him. "Hmm?? Oh, uh, I don't know...??" you fidgeted slightly. You cursed to yourself, you guessed you didn't mentally prepare yourself enough because Lydia noticed your agitation immediately. "Hey, are you okay?" Lydia turned herself towards you. "YEAh I'm FinE." Your voice cracked midway as your stomach churned at the sound. Lydia's mouth formed a straight line as her eyebrows furrowed. "Y/N I swear to god if you don't tell me what's wrong, I'm going to steal your corneas."

You shivered at the thought "Lydiaaa that's gross whyyy I have a mental image nowww--" Lydia laughed but reiterated that "I want you to tell me what's wrong so I can help you!"You caved in and explained to her about your strange thoughts and feelings and how you weren't sure if Beetlejuice reciprocated the same things. All the while Lydia nodded seriously and took everything you were saying in, so she could formulate a good response. You were hoping for a good response. No, what you got was:

"I KNEW YOU WOULD LIKE HIM! OH MY GOD! DELIA OWES ME $20! THIS IS AMAZING! OH MY GOD! YOU'RE SO GROSS! YOU'RE INTO A RAT!" and many more things but not only was she speaking so fast, but this was also in between snorts and giggles. She completely disturbed the peacefulness of the park's natural sounds to her fangirling.

You sat there slack-jawed waiting for Lydia to finish her fit until she could formulate proper sentences not just squealing gibberish. "I was joking in the texts when I said that you liked him, I didn't think you ACTUALLY LIKED HIM!! Okay so basically: you have nothing to worry about! Beej flirts with everyone or anything - like he'd try to seduce a brick if it gave him a wink. It's just how he acts, I guess. But it doesn't mean he doesn't like you. He likes you A LOT. He's been gushing about you since he saw you at the house. I literally had to suffer through the first couple months to him BEGGING for me to summon him so he could talk you up. Like sometimes he didn't even say hello to me, no, the first thing he'd say to me would be "P L E A S E" in between sobs. One time he tried to make a message to you by scrawling on the bench countertop with the mustard but since the idiot can't spell he ended up writing 'I LOV U BAYBIE PLES SUMON ME - BETLEJIEUCE, BETLEJIEUCE, BETLEJIEUCE' and he threw a tantrum when I cleaned it before you could see it."

You sat there for a moment. Unsure of how to respond. "Well...I'm glad we've cleared this up. I guess we should head home so I can confess to him. Good thing I came up with some pickup lines." Lydia could only wheeze out "PICK-UP LINES??" as you two headed back to your car.Hiding your exhilarated feelings bubbling you began to drive back to the house.