Disclaimer: Do not own Beetlejuice

Warnings for unhealthy relationships, manipulations of a child and bullying

Just letting everyone know that this fic will contain a BeetlejuicexLydiaxRichard relationship. And when Astrid is an adult, she's going to be dating an original female character. So, anyone that has issues with that, be aware.

Mommy's friend

Astrid was five years old when she first met the man in the striped suit.

Or rather, she convinced herself eventually, that he was her imaginary friend. But that happened later.

Astrid was five. And she was playing in her parents' backyard. There were some older kids from around the neighborhood, that waved her over and Astrid had run over to play with them.

Her mommy and daddy were inside. They didn't see Astrid opening up the gate of the fence surrounding their house, to go join the older children. So, they didn't see what happened next.

The older kids, several of them snickering at each other, recognized the odd little girl from around the neighborhood, whose mother, they heard, was beginning a "ghost hunting" career or something.

They all figured it would be fun to mess with the little girl that was the daughter of the "town freak."

The girl wasn't that much younger than them. The kids that she was running to go greet, were all only a few years older than her, the oldest of them being nine years old.

But they had heard what their parents had said when talking about this Astrid's mother, "Lydia."

That she was a freak. That she was a charlatan, whatever that word meant.

Either way? They knew when their parents talked badly about someone. So, maybe someone should put Astrid's mother in her place.

Sounded like a good idea to them to start beating on the girl.

When Astrid was close, that was when the two girls and the two boys in the group lunged for Astrid, making the small girl cry out.

One of the boys grabbed Astrid by her shirt collar, lifting her up.

One of the girls laughed in her face and raised her hand to backhand the freak's daughter, when a shadow suddenly stood over them.

"I'd put the kid down if I were yah, crotch turds," a gravelly voice snorted at the older kids, making them look up at who was standing next to them.

Astrid looked up, as well, fearful.

There was a man there, in a striped suit, extremely untidy, light yellow hair, weird colorations along the sides of his neck and face, green colored, the rest of his skin pale, for the save dark circles under his eyes, and extremely bad teeth as he grinned at the other kids.

"Who-who are you?" The boy that hadn't grabbed Astrid mumbled, backing away. The girl that had been about to hit Astrid also began backing away.

"Sorry, kid," the creepy looking man said, grabbing both his lapels and pulling them slightly, "If I told you that, I'd have to kill yah. Now, why don't you put that girl down, and I'll just make you shit your pants instead of giving you a dirt nap."

None of the children knew what he meant by "dirt nap" but something told the boy that held up Astrid, that he had better do as this weirdo said.

He put Astrid down quickly.

He backed away, smiling a little, hoping that the man wouldn't be angry.

"Good job, brat," the man said, snorting again, looking at young Astrid and winking at her, making the confused girl stare up at him in even more confusion, "Now, to follow through on what you shit lot deserve." He said to Astrid, looking at her sternly, "Kid, you better look away, alright?"

Astrid was hesitant at first, then did as she was instructed. She turned her head away from the man, looking away from the other kids.

The man turned back to the older kids and grinned. "Wanted to have a little fun, kids? Alright, I'll give you some fun." His face changed then.

Astrid didn't see what the older kids saw, but whatever they saw? It made them scream.

Astrid at last looked at where the kids were before, and she stared as she watched the older kids running away in terror.

She was almost positive she heard one of the older boys crying for his mother.

Astrid swallowed and slowly turned back to the man that had just saved her.

She didn't know what it was that had scared the other kids, because when she looked up at the man? His face was completely normal. Or normal as in, it looked the same as it had the last time she had seen his face, not but a few moments ago.

Again, the man winked at her and said, "Gets 'em every time."

Astrid had no idea what had just happened, but she knew that this man had just helped her.

She said quietly, "Thank you. What's your name?"

The man chuckled, "Let's not get into that, right? Why don't you just call me 'B?'"

Astrid thought that was weird, but she nodded. "Okay," she said, "Thank you, B."

"Don't worry about it," 'B' said, tugging on his lapels again, "Brats like that? They're asking for a good shit in their pants, and are easy. Be careful when bullies like that try to mess with you, got it?"

Astrid nodded. "I will," she said quietly, "It's just…I really wanted some friends."

Astrid wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not, but the man's frightening grin seemed to soften slightly as he said, "Well, I can be your friend, okay, kiddo?"

Astrid felt a smile cross her face, but hesitated. Her mommy and daddy had always told her to be cautious around strangers, especially if they were adults.

Still, she had just met a few of the neighborhood kids, and they were ready to hurt her.

Could this man really be so bad, since he had just saved her?

Astrid smiled again. "Okay," she said, "I'd like that."

"You ain't gonna regret this, kid," 'B' said, grinning wider.

Astrid didn't know what the word 'regret' meant, but the man made it sound like it was a good thing, so, she supposed she made the right choice.

The man then said, "One thing, though, kid," he said, "Might not wanna tell your parents about me. Especially your mama. I mean, I'm harmless, but parents don't like me cause I have too much fun sometimes, you know?"

Astrid wasn't entirely sure what the man meant, and she already felt like it was a mistake not to tell her mommy and daddy about this man.

But she bit her lip and nodded, deciding not to tell either her mommy or daddy about her new friend.

It was a decision that would change everything for her and her parents.