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She had been gone for a long time or it had at least seemed that way. Lydia had just graduated from high school and despite his constant whining and begging, she just had to visit colleges. Beetlejuice sat back in his couch, dust kicking up around him as he folded his arms with a huff. Time moved differently in the Neitherworld, but he was almost certain that at a few days had passed in the living world. Still…
It didn’t matter the amount of time. He didn’t like being stuck here without her. He had grown accustomed to her presence. For once in his afterlife, he was actually feeling things. Excitement to be around her. Joy when they played pranks on Ginger and Jacques. Despite his efforts, the weird emotion he had learned was love had been creeping along behind him. Over the years, their constant flirting had finally caught up with him. He had always been obsessed with her, but the primal feeling he was dealing with now was a lot more intense. The worst part of this feeling was when she was gone, evident how desperately he missed her when she wasn't around.
Sometimes it felt like he could still hear her voice.
“Beej? You here?” The familiar voice chimed from behind the door as it creaked open. At first, he thought it had only been in his mind, but the notion quickly was thrown aside when she opened the door and pushed her head through the crack of the door. He perked up, her melodic voice filling his ears.
“Lyds! Yer back!”
“I told you I’d be back in a wee-hey!” Her sentence was suddenly cut off by the sudden feeling of his arms around her waist. “Hey…you okay?” His arms tightened around her, not sure if he’d be able to let her go. A deep sense of relief washed over him as he held her. She was back. She was safe. She was here.
He hadn’t realized just how dependent he had become. At some point over their years of friendship, he realized he needed her. She had dug her roots so deep into him, that there was no possible way that he was going to function without her. “Yeah, ’m good. Just missed ya, babes.” After an embrace that probably lasted way too long, he finally pried himself away from her. A small smile crossed his features as he looked her over. It had only been a week since they had seen each other, but seeing her in the spider-webbed parka again sent his long dead heart aflutter.
Lydia’s face contorted giving him a good once-over. “You look like a mess.”
He waved his hand at her, smiling coyly. “Stop, yer makin’ me blush.”
“Here, lemme…” He stiffened as she reached for him, grabbing hold of his tie and trying her best to fix it. She was always doing shit like this as if it made some sort of a difference what he looked like. It was a fruitless effort, but he wasn’t complaining. He just enjoyed the feeling of her touch even if it wasn’t direct. The sensations of her warm, tiny hands seemed to spill through the fibers of his button-down shirt. With no words, he became putty in her hands, watching her intently as she focused on her task. “I know you’re dead and all, but you could at least take care of yourself a little. I can’t be at college worrying about whether or not you’re at least somewhat okay, ya know? I do have to study at some point.”
Beej chuckled at her, his smile growing. “Why bother? It’s more fun if you do it.” He paused for a few moments, his face suddenly becoming more serious. “Plus, ya know I don’t want ya there.”
Her eyes flickered up to his, officially giving up on redoing the stubborn knot of a tie around his neck. “Beetlejuice…we talked about this. I have to finish school. I already started, so I don’t see the point and giving up already.”
“Yeah, but what am I supposed ta do all by myself?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Plus, I told you’d I’d visit every weekend and ta-da! Here I am!” She held her hands out, making a show of herself in a way that made the smile return. He still didn’t like the idea of her going off without him. He had seen first hand the way she was treated by the people around her. His strange and unusual girl was a magnet for negative attention.
“Fine, maybe I’ll just scare ya into staying.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, plus you know you don’t scare me.”
He raised his eyebrows, running his hand along the back of his neck. There were a number of motions he could go through to attempt to scare her, but it wouldn’t do any good. He just wanted to make sure she was safe. “You scare me. Dunno why you insist on goin’ there when you could just stay here. Yer plannin’ on doin’ it anyways. What’s tha point in waitin’?”
She ran her dainty fingers along his cheek, trying to coax him into allowing her to leave again. The last time she had left, he had grabbed onto her leg and tried to drag her back into the Roadhouse. It hadn’t been a pretty sight, but its what he was reduced to when she was around him. A groveling corpse with no hope in sight. She offered him a small smile as he nuzzled into her hand. “I gotta at least finish this. Then I’m all yours, okay? This is important. I wanna make sure to get the whole dumb experience and then I’m moving, got it?”
He grabbed hold of her hand, pulling it over to where his dead heart sat just beneath the surface. While he tried to fake a smile, it only turned into one of sadness. “Fine,” he sighed softly. “You know I’m already yours. Waited fer ya for centuries, what’s a few more years, amirite?”
She beamed at him, running her hands along his waist and pulling him into a tight hug. Her arms couldn’t reach around his gut, but it was the thought that counted. Beej still loved it when she tried. “I know. It won’t be long, okay? I promise.”
“Whatever’s left of this useless soul…it’s yours, alright? It’s just hard to be without ya.”
“I know, but I believe in you. Plus, you know you can visit. I’m bringing the mirror with me.” Reaching up, Lydia placed her finger on his nose and giggled softly. “We can have as many sleepovers as you want.”
A dark grin crossed his face, a low growl dripping from his lips as he pulled her closer. “Sleepovers? Sounds like a date ta me.”