Beetlejuice:
Back In The Game

(A/N: I just noticed that I haven't put a disclaimer in. Well I don't own anything to do with Beetlejuice – movie or cartoon – or Tim Burton. I do own, however, Nadine and Max. Thanks once again to those who review!)

Max Ferdinand stood on Lydia's doorstep, wearing the same tuxedo he wore when he first met Lydia. She was a pretty thing, he though, much better looking than the other girls that were at the party. He pressed his finger against the doorbell for the second time, was she there? He glanced at his watch: 6:53pm, it paid to be early in most situations, would Lydia appreciate it? Again, he thought, she was a pretty thing, but it wasn't her looks he was interested in.

'Coming!' Lydia called from the stairs as she straightened her dress. Calming her nerves she walked to the door and opened it, Max greeted her with a smile and pulled out a bouquet of red roses from behind his back.

'For you, my dear Lydia.' He said. Lydia smiled brightly and took them from him.

'Oh Max, they're beautiful! Thank you.' She flushed. 'Come in.' Max took her up on her offer and stepped inside her house. Lydia closed the door and hurried off to put the roses in some water. Max glanced through the door leading into the dining room, he saw the model of Lydia's old town and walked up to it, hands in his pockets. He circled the model and examined it, something caught his eye, something in the graveyard stuck out. As he looked closer he noticed that it was a gravestone, it was bigger than the others, much bigger. He read the inscription "Here lies Betelgeuse". 'Found the model, huh?' Lydia's voice came from behind him, he turned around and smiled.

'Yeah, it's really something…did you make that?' He asked. Lydia laughed and shook her head.

'No way, I could never do something like that. A friend made it, it's one half of a complete model, but he said I could keep this half.' She explained. Max nodded and glanced back at the gravestone he was looking it.

'Who's Betel…?'

'Uh no one! No one, just something my friend made up.' Lydia cut in, not wanting Max to bring Betelgeuse to earth.

'Oh, ok then. Shall we go?' Her date asked, offering his arm. Lydia grinned and linked her arm with his.

'We shall.' She replied, walking with him to the door.

'Humph, he doesn't look all that great...' Betelgeuse muttered under his breath. He'd been watching them on Jacques' television set, Juno said he couldn't visit earth but she didn't say anything about watching, and he was still fiddling with the aerial. The picture on the TV jumped and flickered, occasionally turning black and white. 'Stupid, cheap piece of crap…' He growled, unable to get a decent picture.

'What are you doing?' Jacques asked, sitting on the couch behind Betelgeuse, who then deliberately twisted the aerial; losing the picture he worked so hard to achieve.

'Uh…nothing, just trying to get ya a better picture…but no luck.' He lied. Jacques laughed lightly.

'We should get a better TV.' He replied. Betelgeuse then set the aerial back to the way it was before he started messing with it. 'Betelgeuze, where eez Lydia?'

'She had to go…' The ghoul sighed. 'She has a date.' Jacques nodded in understanding.

'Do not worry, she will come back to ze Neizerworld soon.' The skeleton reassured. Betelgeuse stood up and stretched his back, creating several sickening cracking sounds.

'I guess…' He sighed again. 'I'm going for a walk…see ya.' Jacques merely waved as his companion dragged himself through the door.

'So where are we going?' Lydia asked, looking at Max from the passenger seat. Max glanced at her and smirked lightly.

'It's a surprise.' He answered. Lydia smiled and looked out the side window, she gasped when she saw a third person in the window, someone that wasn't in the car. 'What's wrong?'

'N-nothing…' Lydia replied, she blinked a few times and the figure had gone.

Betelgeuse walked away from the store window, staring down at his feet. Did she notice it was him? She looked happy, he thought, and that's what mattered, right? He kicked a can that lay in the middle of the pavement; it clattered down the road and rolled into the gutter.

'You sure?' Max asked. Lydia took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' Max nodded and smiled in response. He pulled up in front of an expensive-looking restaurant. Lydia gazed at the building in utter disbelief. 'W-we're eating here??' Max's smile widened and he nodded before cutting off the engine.

'Yup, you like?'

'I like…? Of course I like! This is the most expensive place in town!' Lydia cried gleefully.

'The only one fit enough for you to eat at.' He replied, kissing her on the cheek. Lydia's cheeks pinked slightly, she let out a small giggle and got out of the car. She shut the door and paused. I can't believe I just giggled! She yelled mentally. Max got out and locked the car; he led Lydia to the double door entrance of the restaurant and opened the door for her. She entered the building and looked around. The smell of lobster, steak, chicken and several other foods grabbed her by the nose and guided her vision around the room, she couldn't believe the size of the place, it seemed there were hundreds of people there, all of them dressed as if it were the Oscars. Max wrapped an arm around her waist and looked around. 'Hm…they moved the tables.' He murmured as a middle-aged man walked up to them.

'Ah, Mr. Ferdinand! So nice to see you again.' The man exclaimed, obviously Max had been here a few times before. Max smiled and took out his wallet.

'Hey Roy, how are things?' He asked, taking his credit card from the leather case.

'Very good, sir, and yourself?' Roy took the card off Max and put it in the leather binder he was carrying.

'Excellent Roy, couldn't be better. Roy, I'd like you to meet Lydia Deetz,' Max replied. Roy bowed slightly and shook Lydia's hand, 'she's an up-and-coming writer, won an award last night.'

'I shall be looking for your book, Ms. Deetz, if Mr. Ferdinand thinks it's worth reading then I simply must read it.' Lydia smiled and blushed lightly, still not used to the fuss people made over her book.

'Thank you…that's so nice of you to say.' Roy smiled brightly and stepped to one side.

'Not at all Ms. Deetz, now let me escort you to your table.' He said, walking off into the cluster of tables and waiters. Lydia and Max followed him quickly before they lost him. When they finally got to their table, Roy held out Lydia's seat for her, Lydia smiled and sat down, as did Max opposite her. Two red candles sat on the white tablecloth, never been used.

'Thank you.'

'Again, Ms. Deetz, there is no…'

'Please, call me Lydia, I don't much like formalities.' Roy nodded and handed them each a menu.

'Very well Lydia, I shall do that.' He replied, opening his leather binder and taking out a pen. 'Can I take your order?' Max opened his menu and quickly scanned over the selections of varied foods.

'I'll have tomato soup for starters, then I'll have the potatoes, chicken, vegetables and gravy for the main course.' Roy jotted down the order and then looked at Lydia, awaiting her selection.

'Uhhh…I'm not sure, it's all so expensive…' Max laughed heartily and shook his head.

'It doesn't matter how much it costs Lydia, pick anything you want, anything at all.' Lydia nodded and looked back down at the menu.

'Umm…I'll have the pasta.' Roy nodded and jotted down her order.

'What would you like for drink?' He asked.

'Red wine.' Lydia and Max answered in unison, and then laughed. Roy chuckled and wrote it down before leaving the table. A chandelier hung from the ceiling not far from the couple, it jangled slightly, as if moved by an unseen hand. Betelgeuse's reflection moved away from the crystal.

As he continued to walk down the street towards the swamps, Betelgeuse sighed and stared up at the sky. This is pathetic, he thought, why am I so depressed over that dumb human being with another dumb human? She's nothing to me; I mean…I'm the essence of scary itself, more so than the Bogeyman, I shouldn't be like this over her. No matter how much he told himself that, it never ceased to play on his mind, he knew that she was the closest thing he's ever had to a friend…a friend who abandoned him to be with someone else. He liked her, so what if he was dead?

She'll only hurt you…like everyone else…like they always have…

'You know…this is the first time anyone's taken me to somewhere this nice.' Lydia said before taking a sip of wine from her glass. Max smiled and swirled the wine around inside his own glass.

'Now I can't believe that Lydia, someone must have taken you out to dinner before.' He replied. Lydia snorted and set her glass on the table.

'Yeah, to a fast-food place.' She muttered. Max leant back as Roy brought over their food, along with Max's credit card.

'Well now you're getting what you deserve.' He said, taking in the aroma of his soup. Lydia smiled and started to eat, as did her date. An hour or so later, they had both finished their food and had also drained three bottles of wine between them, Max had drunk the most and it didn't affect him as much as it affected Lydia. 'Well…whaddya wanna do now…?' Max asked her, a slight slur in his voice.

'Welll…I guess we could go back to my place…' Lydia replied, leaning her elbows on the table, an even bigger slur in her voice. Max nodded and stood up; he picked up his credit card and placed it back in his wallet. Lydia also stood, swaying a little. Max took her by the hand and led her outside. He hailed a taxi and instructed the driver on where to go. 'What about your car…?'

'Don't worry, it'll be there tomorrow.' Max assured her, Lydia leant her head on his shoulder and smiled. A while later, they pulled up in front of Lydia's house, Max paid the driver and led Lydia to her front door. After a few minutes trying to get the key in the lock, Lydia burst in giggling through the door. Max shut the door and locked it; he then followed Lydia in to the living room, who then wrapped her arms around his neck. Without another word, Max planted a kiss on her lips, Lydia returned the kiss and pressed herself up against him. She then pulled away and looked up at him.

'Maybe we should go upstairs…' She said, pulling herself from Max and walking towards the doorway. The businessman eagerly followed her up the stairs into her room; they kissed again and worked their way over to the bed, undressing as they went.

Betelgeuse glared at the murky water of the swamp, at the vision of Lydia and that guy in her bed. He batted the water with his fist, dispelling the picture.

She'll only hurt you…like everyone else…like they always have…

The words played over in his mind, again and again and again, it just would not stop. He'd learned a long time ago not to trust people, but since he died he became a little more extrovert…just a little. He could do business with people, but wouldn't trust them as far as he could throw them. Now Lydia…the few hours she spent with him were the happiest he'd ever had, she taught him that there were some people he could trust. But she had to go off, she had to go and leave him, alone, in this hell where no one liked him, feeling eyes constantly staring at him wherever he went. She was just toying with him, wasn't she? Pretending to like him, pretending to be his friend when all she wanted to do was hurt him, the way she already has. She was laughing with that jerk she was with, laughing at Betelgeuse no doubt. He clenched his fists and growled, how dare she make a fool of him, how dare she hurt him like this. She just dumped him all alone like he was nobody, like he was nothing.

'I'll show her…I'll show them all…' He hissed to himself, his voice full of loathing. A grey fog rolled in through the trees, his pale skin became clammy from the humid air. Bugs flew through the air, buzzing past Betelgeuse's face, but he took no notice, he saw nothing else but his revenge against Lydia for leaving him, for hurting him.

(A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! I should point out, for those who are confused by Betelgeuse's quick hatred for Lydia, read my other fic titled: Beetlejuice: Origin, you'll see why…at least I hope you do. And it's plug-time for my other fics, I have several original stories on fictionpress .com, just put Valkyrie into the search engine. Failing that, if you're interested, e-mail me and I'll reply with the link to my profile. Thanks for reading!)