Terror of the Heart
by
Owlcroft
"I'm just saying it would be a good night for movies, babes. That's all." Beetlejuice very nearly managed to look innocent, but he never could fool his best friend.
His best friend lowered her brows and gave him her best 'oh, yeah, sure' look. "Who was it this time?" she asked in a resigned voice.
"We-ell, actually . . . it was Monster." Beetlejuice grinned then began to cackle. "He was using that grilling pit of his and it was smoking up the whole neighborhood, so I switched his barbecue sauce for hot sauce. Really hot sauce!" And he doubled up shrieking with laughter.
Lydia tried not to smile, but finally gave up and then laughed with him. "Not exactly being a good neighbor, were you, Beej?"
"Hey," he replied, still snortling, "it's not being a good neighbor to smoke everybody in the neighborhood out, you know. Flubbo and Jacques were just about rolling on the ground when Monster started using a fire extinguisher as mouthwash!"
"Oh, dear," she was still chuckling. "Maybe you should stay here for a while. And it's been a while since we had a real movie night. You pick some out while I hit the kitchen for snacks. Popcorn for you, too, right?" When he nodded, already picking out movies from the rack against the wall, she headed downstairs.
ooooo
The first they watched was one of their favorites, 'Rabid Bunyips from Mars', and when that concluded and a re-fill of the popcorn bowl was called for, Beetlejuice put on 'Terrortown'. It was a good film and the special effects were hilarious, but it was a bit slow in the middle while the explanations were given for the zombie invasion.
The title scenes rolled, zombies lurched into view, townspeople reacted accordingly, and the two friends settled in to laugh and enjoy. As they made their way into the second bowl of popcorn, their fingers kept touching.
Such intimate contact distracted Beetlejuice from the movie and made him think. He thought about how much better the last few years had been for him, about what a difference Lydia had made. Now the fun he had was shared with someone, everything was shared with someone – someone he could always turn to, could depend on, could . . . care about.
He blinked suddenly. Where had that come from? Well, of course, he cared about her, took care of her, was careful with her. But that's not exactly what that thought had meant. But he couldn't do that, couldn't feel that, because . . . because he just couldn't. It was too scary, too grim and sickening to even consider. He didn't dare care about her, wish for more than friendship. And he knew why that was so and refused to think about it. Damn zombies, being so boring. Where was the action, the paper-thin plot? Anything to keep him from thinking about it.
He rummaged in the bowl for more popcorn and the touch of her hand brought it all to the forefront of his mind again.
Because one day he'd have to give her up. That unpreventable conviction brought more alarm, more terror, than any horror movie ever had. He wouldn't, he couldn't ever ask her to give up her 'real' life for him. And that was the most agonizing thing he'd ever had to accept. The day will finally come, he thought, when I have to tell her good-bye. And that's the day I'll . . .
At that moment, the zombies reappeared on the screen and he could stop thinking.
ooooo
Lydia watched him as he thought. Always sensitive to his budding emotions, she was aware when he withdrew from the movie into himself. She watched as his expression changed from wondering gratitude to depression to a bleak despair and knew what he was thinking. She smiled to herself. He was such a darling and of course she would give him time, but there would come a moment when she would have to have to break it to him that what he felt was love and that she would never leave him.
She blinked suddenly. Unless . . . could she be wrong about what he felt for her? Could he really just appreciate her as a friend, someone he valued but not in that special way that she wanted? It was so hard for him to admit he even had feelings; was she sure he felt the way she needed him to? Maybe she was just believing what she wanted him to feel. That couldn't be the case – could it? For a moment, she was terrified that she'd come to believe something only because she wanted it to be true.
Then his hand touched hers in the bowl of popcorn and she gave a silent sigh of relief.
Her heart reassured her of his feelings and brought the confidence and comfort she needed. Of course, he loved her and he told her in different ways multiple times a day. Some day, she thought, some day it would be the the right time. The day would eventually come when she could give him her heart and he would have to accept it; that's the day I'll . . .
ooooo
A heart-searing scream erupted from the screen and they both focused on the movie again, their buttery fingers still touching and intimate. And if, occasionally, his fingers seemed to linger on hers, Lydia tucked her smiles away and waited in contentment.