The one where Astrid has a gap year
Author's note- This is my first venture into the world of Beetlejuice so the characters may be a little ooc (apologies if so!). Also this has been a bit of a writing exercise for me to hopefully get back into the swing of writing fanfic after a long break, enjoy!
Closing her book slowly, Lydia sat up in her favourite armchair and stretched her back gently, feeling her stiff muscles cry out in relief before discreetly glancing up towards the other two occupants in the room. Her teenage daughter Astrid, and her…friend? If that was even the right term for him, Beetlejuice were chatting randomly.
A slow smile crept up on the older woman's face as she observed the two of them sat across from each other in the living room of her parents' old house in Winter River. Astrid was sat on an old tatty couch which once belonged to Lydia's beloved stepparents Adam and Barbara whilst Beetlejuice slouched in the other armchair.
The girl and the ghoul were deep in conversation about the various inhabitants and environments within the NetherWorld. They had been talking non-stop for about an hour now, with Astrid bombarding him with question after question and Beetlejuice wildly gesturing with his arms when he was describing some of the weird and wonderful things to be found in his home world. Lydia was actually impressed and surprised by how much patience Beetlejuice was showing with the million and one questions Astrid was asking him, although she was sure he probably loved all the attention!
"Hang on, so the waterfall flows upside down?" Astrid asked in disbelief.
"Sure does but in the summer it can also go side to side which is fine but if the flying octopus is there for the season you're best to avoid, that asshole loves to take a bite out of the tourists" he responded with a dark chuckle.
Lydia couldn't help but smirk as Astrid sat wide eyed and listened in avidly whilst the 'Ghost with the most' described some of the places that could be found, from vast rugged wilderness to bustling cities of the dead. Such a stark contrast to six months ago when he first came back into their lives and Astrid absolutely refused to even give him the time of day and went out of her way to avoid being around him.
It was as Lydia was watching the pair of them converse that she started to reminisce on how the crude, obnoxious poltergeist found his way back into their lives.
Flashback
Following the events of what happened at her second 'almost wedding' Lydia knew she had a lot of changes to make in her life.
The first and most important change was for her and Astrid to reconnect and bond as mother and daughter again. It wasn't a quick nor easy fix though as Astrid still held a lot of trauma within her regarding her fathers' death and feelings of abandonment (albeit unintentional) from her mother. Following a lot of therapy for Astrid to talk and finally grieve her father properly, they were able to arrange their first trip away to Europe which thus started the first step to happier times for the mother and daughter.
Lydia and Astrid had decided they were going to make it a tradition that every year they were going to go on a trip just the two of them, didn't matter where but they were going to go together and just enjoy the connection and have fun exploring the world like they should have been doing for years already. They had already ticked off Romania and were planning on going to Ireland next year for their girls' trip.
They were both finally living.
End of flashback
"So there I am dressed in a tutu, nuthin else, handsome as all hell by the way thanks for asking…"
Lydia caught part of Beetlejuice's conversation, shook her head and decided 'nope, don't even wanna know Beej'.She stood up abruptly and headed towards the kitchen "you guys want anything?"
Both Astrid and Beetlejuice turned at her sudden and abrupt question.
"No thanks mom, I'm good"
"Nah thanks Lyds"
Before both turned back to their conversation about how Beetlejuice escaped the runaway sandworm that had somehow found it's way to the NetherWorld in his two hundredth year of being dead.
Lydia placed her mug down, flicked the switch for the coffee machine and turned to lean back against the counter to wait for her drink to be ready, her mind drifting back once again.
Flashback
It had been around about April of the following year, six months on from the ill fated events of the previous Halloween, when every so often whilst going about her business throughout the day, Lydia found her thoughts would sometimes stray into the dangerous territory of Beetlejuice and what happened to him after she banished him back to the NetherWorld.
At first she would try her best to just completely forget about him, shake off the feeling that would come over her and just try to get back on with her day. However after a while she found she could not get the crude poltergeist off her mind, something small had lodged into her mind and continued to grow and fester until finally she found numerous things in everyday life would remind her of him. Anything with black and white stripes caused an instant shiver down her spine, anytime she heard a man with a similar (yet never quite perfect) guttural voice would cause her to freeze up in terror.
As time went on Lydia realised that a big emotion she did harbour was guilt…
She had been sat in bed watching TV late one evening, trying to find something she could watch to switch off her mind and the hundred and one thoughts racing through it. It didn't take long however until she stopped focussing on the movie she had put on and just allowed her thoughts to spill out into the atmosphere.
Thoughts of Beetlejuice once again sprang forth and Lydia had to finally admit to herself that she was feeling slightly guilty for what she had done to the 'ghost with the most'.
Now one thing Lydia would never apologise for was what happened when she was a teenager, as far as she was concerned she was far too young to be held accountable for what happened then, she was a literal teenager being forced to marry and she only agreed to that to save Adam and Barbara. As far as Lydia was concerned Beetlejuice was the one in the wrong regardless if Lydia went back on their deal or not!
Lydia may have been a shy, pushover as a teenager but now as a grown woman she sure as hell was not that! She'd faced demons, numerous personal tragedies through losing her former husband, her beloved stepparents, her parents as well as having to deal with terrible choices in men (ahem Rory!). She was determined to make sure Astrid knew her worth and stood up for herself better than Lydia ever did at her age.
This recent time around with Beetlejuice however, didn't sit quite right with her though…
Lydia had needed him to help save Astrid from that monster Jeremy and he had agreed to do it on the basis she marry him to allow him to travel between their worlds.
She needed something and he needed something.
'Honestly what harm would it have done? If I had married him would it have made any real difference to my life? Lets be realistic he wouldn't have wanted to hang around here with me and Astrid would he? He would have probably took that green card and vanished into the world never to be seen or heard from again…I think'Lydia pondered for what seemed like the hundredth time.
The way she had spoke to him and sent him away after everything he had done for her, made her cringe and feel like such an asshole!
Helping Lydia get into the afterlife to rescue Astrid, sending Jeremy to the hot place where he deserved, showing Lydia the truth surrounding Rory's true intentions, not to mention the fact that his idea of a perfect wedding reception was far more aligned to Lydia's wishes than what Rory had planned! Saving her from another bad marriage and likely financial problems.
Rubbing her face tiredly before dragging her fingers through her hair, the raven-haired woman let out a small sigh.
There was one more thing that had been bothering her since that night…
She could remember perfectly the look on Beetlejuice's face when he realised she wasn't going to marry him. There was a brief moment where it seemed that time almost stood still as a look of genuine sadness flashed over his pale moss covered face and the look in his dark eyes held so much emotion as he looked towards her across the alter. She honestly never thought he even possessed the capability to have that kind of emotion.
Lydia knew the main reason he had asked her to marry him was so that he could get the green card that would allow him to travel between their worlds freely as well as getting his ex wife off his back. There was absolutely no other reason he would have married her…
'Or was there?'
The thought made Lydia pause slightly and think back to every interaction she had ever had with the poltergeist. There was nothing they had ever said or done to make her think that there had ever been anything 'more' between them. She needed something done or someone saved and he needed a green card to escape the afterlife, that was the extent of their need for each other.
So why did he look so hurt when she told him she wasn't marrying him? If anything she would have expected anger, rage, hell-bent fury from him as she was taking away his free pass. Instead he looked like a guy that had genuinely been dumped at the alter!
Shaking her head, Lydia readjusted her position in bed and turned the volume back up on the TV to try and focus on the film and take her mind off the confusing poltergeist.
However after only five minutes in, her mind was already slowly wandering back to him.
"Goddammit!" She cursed as she threw the bed covers off and got up out of bed and began walking around her room, hands on her hips as she paced in annoyance with herself. She could feel a headache coming on.
"It's been six months, why the hell am I even thinking about him?" she asked out loud to no one but herself. Her own thoughts, which she was too scared to voice aloud, answered her as honestly as they could.
'Because you're not completely happy with how everything turned out at the end and you're not happy with how you treated him and sent him away'.
"But the contract that I signed wasn't valid, he brought me to the afterlife illegally so the deal was null and void" she argued.
'Does that really matter? You still agreed verbally then went back on your word'
"Why should I care about that though?"
'Good question why do you?'
"I…I don't know, I guess I feel guilty because I asked him for help and…he helped me"
'He did more than what you asked though didn't he?'
That thought made Lydia pause in her relentless pacing as she stood and stared at herself in the bedroom mirror by her wardrobe. Thoughts of Beetlejuice guiding her through the afterlife world to find her daughter, sending that piece of shit Jeremy to hell, exposing Rory and his lies.
He'd helped her save her daughter, punished the murderous boy that had used Astrid and stopped Lydia from entering a sham of a marriage.
"I guess he did"
'Whereas you did nothing to help save him from his ex wife, the sandworm and Astrid did that, you refused to marry him which would have gave him his freedom he so desperately wanted, spoke to him like crap then sent him back to the afterlife as if he was nothing.'
"Jesus when you put it like that…" It was the first time Lydia had ever admitted how she truly felt of the events of that night. She thought after a certain amount of time she would be fine and would get over any bad feeling she had but now six months on she was only just facing up to the reality of how she truly felt about the whole situation. She had a lot of regrets.
"God I was a bitch" she muttered bitterly and she rubbed her face again tiredly.
'What are you going to do about it?'
Lydia slowly looked up to glance at her reflection in the mirror once more…
End of flashback
The coffee machine beeped abruptly causing Lydia jump slightly and pulled her out of her thoughts. Turning around she grabbed her cup from the machine and took a few steps towards the door of the kitchen to glance through to the living room.
Astrid was telling Beetle all about her plan for her gap year once she graduated from high school and before going to college, she had decided that she wanted to go travelling and had planned a pilgrimage to where her father had passed away to pay her respects.
Lydia always felt a twinge of anxiety spike whenever Astrid mentioned her gap year plans, the thought of her baby girl going off out into the big scary world by herself made Lydia's heart race and her stomach churn. She never told Astrid any of this though as she wanted her daughter to enjoy this coming of age experience and learn true independence as well as make some memories that she would cherish as she grew up. Lydia just had to learn how to cope with her anxiety and put a smile on for Astrid's sake.
As Astrid was chatting over her travel itinerary, Lydia felt a pair of eyes on her.
She glanced over towards Beetlejuice and noticed him listening to Astrid while discreetly watching Lydia, he knew Lydia's fears over Astrid travelling especially so far away from home, and he'd noticed the way she would become quiet or change the subject.
Keeping eye contact with him, Lydia gave a small half-hearted smile to let him know she was ok and to keep the conversation going for Astrid's sake. Beetlejuice knew Lydia was still working on her worries of Astrid leaving and was no doubt going to be ruminating on this for the rest of the day, he wanted to help alleviate those fears.
'That sounds like a hell of an adventure you got planned there kid, you goin alone or with a buddy?" He asked.
"Katie is coming too, she wanted to take a year out before college as well since we probably wont get much chance to do anything big like this during or after college. She wants to study psychology so she's gonna be pretty busy and broke like me" Astrid answered back enthusiastically. Katie was another girl in Astrid's school who had been quite shy and had pretty much kept herself to herself for most of their time there. It wasn't until they had discovered a shared love of photography at the school's camera club that they connected and started to chat almost everyday until they had ended up becoming fast friends and spending everyday around each other. Now the two were practically inseparable.
"Well that's good, nothing better than travelin with a friend" was all Beetlejuice replied with as he slowly looked back towards Lydia who was leaning against the door frame, he could see the worry in her eyes and the way she bit her bottom lip. Damn he loved the way she did that thing with her bottom lip, he wished he could kiss those lips to stop her worrying. But one look at her face and he knew she would not welcome it, she had too much on her mind with Astrid right now.
"Oh shoot what time is it? I'm supposed to be meeting Katie for lunch in town" Astrid asked abruptly as she looked towards the clock on the wall.
"Just gone twelve sweetheart, do you need a ride?" Lydia asked, finally walking back into the living room.
"Nah that's ok thanks mom, I'm going to take my bike in" Astrid got up and began gathering her coat, bag, keys and phone. She gave Lydia a quick hug, waved bye to Beetlejuice and headed out the door in a rush to make the short trip into town.
The house was a lot quieter now with just the two of them left alone.
Beetlejuice watched as Lydia walked towards the window to watch as Astrid cycled away from the house down towards the road into town.
"She'll be ok Lyds" His gruff voice broke the silence.
Lydia turned her head to look at him now stood by her side at the window.
"I know. I know I'm being silly and over protective, I just…I don't want to ruin this for her, I want her to be excited and do all these fun things that kids do when they grow up. I guess…I'm still not fully recovered from almost losing her a year ago" Lydia's thoughts turned to Astrid being tricked into the afterlife by Jeremy and almost losing her life. She shuddered slightly.
Her eyes were filled with emotion as she looked at the ghost beside her. He still looked chaotic with his pale moss covered face, his messy hair and the black and white suit had never changed. His eyes were still unnaturally green however there was a weariness to them.
She desperately wanted to reach out and touch him, feel some form of physical connection. A hand hold, a hug…anything. She needed comfort that only a loving partner could provide. She needed an arm around her shoulder and a voice to whisper in her ear that it would all be ok.
They had never fully discussed nor resolved what their strange 'relationship' with each other actually was. Ever since Beetlejuice had returned to Lydia's life a year ago they had never once crossed the boundary of friendship. It had been a strained and almost awkward feeling to begin with which then eventually turned to simple friendship. Lydia was surprised he had hung around this long after she had first summoned him again. She honestly thought he would have heard what she'd had to say then left in a disinterested puff of smoke. Why would he want to hang around unless he was getting something that he wanted out of it?
She had told him from the beginning that she wasn't going to marry him, she only wanted to marry for one reason only and that was love. She wanted to marry someone who could be her best friend, she just couldn't stomach the idea of marrying someone for a green card, it didn't feel right to her. He had acknowledged and seemed to accept this, quickly shutting that conversation down for good.
Lydia's growing feelings for the poltergeist however made her question whether or not his feelings had changed towards her too, or if he was definitely done with the idea of marrying her.
Beetlejuice listened as the woman who had secretly become the love of his afterlife opened her soul to him and shared her fears over losing her daughter. He would do anything if it meant making Lydia feel better.
He had been hurt when she straight up said she would never marry him, damn that wound never seemed to heal. So he just accepted that his role in her life would be as a friend and nothing more. Jesus he felt like a pathetic loser!
"Ye know I could probably speak with ole Juno, see if there was some way I could extend the connection I have with you to Astrid. If she's ever in trouble while she's away she could just summon me the same way you do and I could go help her" Beetlejuice mumbled out thoughtfully.
Lydia's eyes widened as she turned fully to face him.
"Is that possible? Would Astrid be able to call for you? How?"
Beetlejuice placed his hands on her shoulders to try and calm her down, she was currently going a mile a minute with the questions.
"Woah babes, let me speak to Juno first, I've no idea if its possible or not. I mean can't see why not, you can summon me, and Astrid's your daughter so it shouldn't be too difficult to allow the connection to stretch to her too. You wouldn't even need to marry me…" It wasn't until the last sentence that Beetlejuice realised he'd put his foot in it. Both Lydia and him had frozen up at the choice of words.
They'd both managed to avoid the topic of marriage up until now, however an awkward silence now fell upon them.
Aw jeez, well done dumbass! Beetlejuice thought to himself angrily as he dropped his arms and she turned to face the window again, why did he have to go and say that?
Flashback
One am…it was goddamn one a fucking m and she still hadn't called him yet.
It had been one week since Lydia had paced around her bedroom questioning everything that had happened at the 'almost' wedding and had decided she was going to summon Beetlejuice. She had spent the last week going over her decision to make sure she was doing the right thing and for the right reasons. She also didn't want to admit she was putting it off as she was nervous about coming face to face with him once more.
'Will he be pissed off?'She wondered nervously.
'Of course he'll be pissed off, you went back on your word again and sent him back to the NetherWorld! He's probably gonna be mad as hell and try and trick me into some other sketchy deal.'
'Would he hurt me?'
Lydia thought long and hard on this question. Beetlejuice was a crude, obnoxious, over confident, strange and confusing poltergeist that was undoubted. But would he ever physically harm her?
In all the time she had known him Lydia knew that he was an incredibly powerful and dangerous being. The magic he could wield as if it was nothing, the power he had at his disposal, the fearlessness he'd shown when faced with the sandworm at the wedding and lastly the ease with which he could easily sweet talk and manipulate whenever he needed something. Yet despite all that, he had never once caused her any physical harm or allowed others to do the same.
For some reason Lydia genuinely believed that she was safe around him.
'Better hope it stays that way!'She thought sarcastically.
Lydia had decided that since Astrid was travelling back on Sunday for school, she was going to drop her daughter off Sunday evening as usual then drive back home to prepare for her encounter with the devious poltergeist.
She had spent the whole of Sunday evening psyching herself up to say the words. Even gave herself the deadline (no pun intended!) of ten o'clock to do it, otherwise she would just keep putting it off and off.
Ten o'clock rolled around, she was still stood in the dining room, hands nervously rubbing together, anxiety at an all time high. She had been stood there for the past two hours trying to work up the courage to summon him.
"Come on just do it already! Just say the damn words. If it looks unsafe I can just send him back" She tried reassuring herself.
The hours passed with not much change. Lydia continued to pace around the dining room arguing with herself on the right and wrong of what she was about to do.
Until finally at one am she'd had enough.
"Right I'm doing it! Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!" she eventually called out.
She stood and waited with baited breath. Turning on the spot to look around the room to see where he would emerge. She had expected a grand entrance, smoke, noise, chaos, the room to shake, anything that would make it obvious he was here.
What she did not expect however was for nothing really to happen!
Looking around in confusion she wondered where the hell he was?
A moment of dread filled her as she considered the possibility that she either could no longer summon him or that he did not wish to see her.
A strange feeling of panic began to rise in Lydia as she considered she may no longer have any connection to Beetlejuice. She'd spent her life knowing how to summon him if she so wished and yet never did but now that she could not get to him, it didn't feel right.
For all his faults, Beetlejuice had been the one person who truly understood her and did not dismiss her because of her weird or quirky ways. He had also been a constant in her life, always there lurking in the background if she ever wanted to call for him.
It was at this particular moment Lydia realised…
She did not want to lose her connection with him, regardless of the history they had.
Lydia felt her eyes start to burn as the emotion of potentially losing him started to fill her.
"Please! Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetl…"
"Yeah I heard ye already!" came an angry and gruff response behind her.
Lydia turned quickly to face the ghost himself standing slouched against the kitchen counter with arms crossed and an unimpressed look on his face. He stood slightly in the shadows which gave him a more menacing presence. He hadn't changed at all, which she supposed was stupid to think since he was a ghost and never really changed, although he was now wearing the black and white striped suit instead of the red wedding one.
Her immediate relief at seeing him again was now clouded by the realisation that he didn't look too pleased to see her!
'I guess I should have expected he wouldn't be all smiles and jokes,'she thought nervously.
The ghost continued to stand and stare at her in silence, which was far more terrifying when you were so used to seeing him full of energy and chaos.
Lydia cleared her throat and began to speak, hoping her well rehearsed speech would not be too blatantly obvious.
"Thank you for coming, I know I'm the last person you probably…"
"Yeah yeah cut the crap babes, what do you want?" He interrupted impatiently. This caused Lydia to stumble slightly in what she was about to say.
"I…I just wanted to apologise…" She spoke softly, her heart racing now that she was finally getting the chance to tell him how she felt after everything that had happened.
Beetlejuice made no move to respond or even move at all, he just continued to lean against the counter and watch her like a hunter would their prey.
"I'm sorry for sending you back to the afterlife and how I spoke to you when I did it, I…know it was wrong of me and I do feel awful about it. I didn't even thank you for helping me when you did. But you have to understand, I was desperate to save my daughter and would have agreed to anything to ensure her safety"
Lydia saw a very brief and discreet flinch when she mentioned she only agreed to marry him to save her daughter. Beetlejuice knew that realistically while he did harbour feelings for her he begrudgingly knew she didn't feel the same for him, it had all been for Astrid, he held no place in Lydia's heart.
Lydia continued on amidst his silence, "So for what its worth, I'm sorry and thank you for helping save my daughter, you have no idea how much it meant to me".
She watched him closely to find some sort of reaction or response from him. Finally after a few tense moments she heard him take a deep breath in and let out a sigh as he looked to the ground, his face still somewhat hidden in shadows.
"Was the thought of marrying me really that terrible?" his voice was low and rough, he'd kept his head lowered facing the ground as he'd muttered it out. It felt strange hearing him speak after so long.
Lydia was thrown by the question, she hadn't been expecting him to ask that out of all the things he could have asked.
"It wasn't that, it was…I just…I cant marry someone for the sake of a deal, I needed to save Astrid and you needed a green card plus an escape from your ex wife…that's not the basis for a marriage Bee…"
At the sound of his name being started Beetlejuice snapped his head up to look straight at her again, his arms came down by his sides.
"I'm not going to say your name!" She tried to reassure him. He simply relaxed back against the counter again with a small shake of the head.
"Look I appreciate everything you did for me but if I'm going to marry again I want it to be with someone that I love and want to spend the rest of my time with and I want my husband to feel the same way" She tried to reason gently.
He knew she was just being honest and couldn't fault her reasons at all, truth be told…he actually felt the same way! The only difference between the two of them was that he already loved her and knew he wanted to spend every damn waking moment with her. She had gotten so under his skin that he couldn't go a day without thinking about her. This whole tough guy act he was putting on and pretending to not care was all bullshit, but he'd had his pride severely dented when she'd refused him at the alter and he was wary about allowing her to hurt him again.
Lydia didn't say anymore, she felt she'd said what she needed to say, she'd apologised and thanked him whilst also explaining her reasons why she didn't marry him.
It was his turn to either respond or leave, whatever he felt was best. She hoped he wouldn't disappear straight away.
A long moment of silence lingered on as the ghost and the woman stood on opposite sides of the room just watching the other, neither making a move. Lydia wasn't sure what was going through his mind but the silence was becoming uncomfortable and the air tense.
"I apologise, I shouldn't have forced you into an impossible decision" he answered so quietly Lydia almost missed it.
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, he was actually apologising for his actions…
Lydia didn't see any point in making this awkwardness linger on any the longer than it needed to, she wanted him as a friend and not an enemy. "I accept your apology, if you accept mine?" She answered softly, taking a few steps towards him until they were only a short distance away. It was up to him now to make the next move.
Watching the woman warily as she accepted his apology, Beetlejuice watched her come towards him nervously yet determined. This woman had always fascinated him and here she was facing up to the fearsome poltergeist and trying to make amends.
There was no point denying what he knew he wanted to do, he would have practically agreed to anything she had said, his treacherous long dead heart was still getting him into trouble with women it would seem!
'At least this one can't poison me since I'm already dead,'he thought sarcastically.
Making his decision, Beetlejuice pushed forward up from the counter and walked slowly towards where Lydia was standing, coming to stand right in front of her.
He held his hand out and watched as a small smile began to form on her beautiful face.
Without hesitation she raised hers and placed her small warm hand in his larger cold one, they shook slightly to seal the deal. A small smirk began to form on his lips as he watched her delighted expression form and the stress from their meeting seemed to fall away from her as her shoulders visibly relaxed.
The girl and the ghoul had a truce.
End of flashback
Two years later…
Bradley International Airport Connecticut
Beetlejuice had hung back to allow the mother and daughter to have a private moment between themselves to say goodbye. Today was the day that Astrid would begin her adventure to Brazil to pay her respects to her father near to where he had died, before carrying on her travels with her friend Katie around South America.
Astrid had graduated several months earlier and was now stood at the departure gate, packed and ready to get on the plane that would take her away from her mom and Beetlejuice.
Lydia's fears were still very much present but were thankfully put at ease a bit when Beetlejuice had told her Juno had cleared it for Astrid to be able to call for him should she need help. Astrid could not help but to roll her eyes in exasperation at her mother after being told for the hundredth time to call for him if she was ever stuck or in need of help. Anything at all and at any time of the day or night Beetlejuice would come help her. The young woman assured her mother that she would call immediately if she needed him, and she knew he would. Astrid had actually grown fond of the ghost and for all the teasing and trouble she gave him, she liked the fact that her mom had him there to support her whilst Astrid was gone and that he was part of their small family now.
Looking behind her mother, Astrid saw the ghost himself stood several feet away to give them privacy, he had transformed his appearance of that of a very much alive man wearing a very normal yet boring outfit (for Beetlejuice anyway!) of a white dress shirt and dark grey slacks. Astrid wondered if his appearance was what he looked like while he was alive or if it was just a random face he had made up.
"Please just you and Katie look after yourselves and have an absolute blast ok? Send me a message when you guys land and when you get to the hotel" Lydia pulled her daughter into another tight hug.
"I will mom, I promise" Astrid responded back with her arms around her mothers neck tight.
The two slowly parted "I just wanna go say goodbye to Beej" Astrid said as she went over to the ghost waiting and watching the two most important women in his afterlife.
Lydia felt a warmth spread through her chest as she watched her daughter throw her arms around Beetlejuice's neck as he picked her up, spun her around and gave her a big bear hug.
Instinctively she felt for the engagement ring on her left hand and remembered the day she knew she had fell in love with him.
Flashback
"Wait so what exactly are you saying Beej?" Lydia asked in surprise.
"I'm saying it took a bit of convincing but Juno finally agreed to let the connection between you and I extend to Astrid, so if she is ever in any trouble while she's away she can call on me and I'll be there to help her" Beetlejuice explained.
'I'll be there to help her'those words echoed in Lydia's mind.
"Are you sure you're ok with that Beej? I mean I don't want you feel like you're tied down by us or anything like that or that you owe us…" Lydia began rambling in all directions.
Beetlejuice went to her and placed one hand on her shoulder and the other cupped her face.
"Hey, hey, Lyds! Woah slow down. I'm not doing it because I feel I owe ye or anythin like that…I want to do it" He spoke as softly as his gruff voice could manage.
Lydia placed her hand gently on his that was cupping her cheek. "You do?" She asked, hopefully.
"Besides…maybe I wanna be tied down here" He stated nervously, the fear of rejection once again setting in. He'd promised himself he would never let the walls around his long dead heart down again, but surprise surprise! here he was baring his soul once again to this woman. This would be the final time he ever did this, if she rejected him again…he was gone. He couldn't remain there knowing that there was nothing more between them.
"You…what?" she was stunned.
"Lyds, you and Astrid are my world now, I want to make sure Astrid is safe, I want to be the one she calls for when she needs help"
Lydia couldn't believe it was finally happening, there had been something between them for a while but she had been wary about getting her hopes up.
"And you babes, I wanna marry you, not for some stupid green card or anything like that but, because you're my girl and I've loved you for too damn long not to be able to tell you" he said as he nervously waited her response.
A smile began to form on his girl's face as she slowly gripped his black tie and pulled him down gently before their lips finally joined together in their first actual kiss.
End of flashback
"Beej! Put me down!" Astrid laughed as she returned the hug.
"Not until you promise to smuggle me back some of those cigars I was telling you about"
"I'll think about it" she chuckled once more before whispering in his ear, "Look after mom for me"
Beetlejuice tightened his hold around her, "Ye know I will kid, just you watch yerself and don't go getting involved in any dodgy shit down there".
"I won't…love you" She whispered softly before giving him one last tight squeeze then quickly turning back towards her mom for one last hug goodbye.
There were very few occasions where Beetlejuice would open up and allow anyone to see the real him, the man behind the ghost. The last time was when Lydia agreed to marry him (for real this time) and the other was today…
"Love ye too kid" He whispered as he watched Astrid…his soon to be step daughter walk towards the departure gate with her boarding pass in hand, she turned to wave at the two of them one final time before she disappeared into the tunnel and on to her adventure.
Lydia sighed softly with a smile as she watched her daughter walk away. She actually didn't feel as bad as she thought she would. Oh she was sad to see Astrid go don't get her wrong but she was also so very excited for her postcards, emails and phone calls to hear about all her wonderful adventures.
With one last glance, she turned back towards her fiancé.
Lydia stopped abruptly as she looked up at him.
"Beej…are you crying?" she asked in disbelief as the poltergeist had quickly tried to rub his eyes discreetly before she turned around and saw him.
"What? Me? You gotta be kidding me babes, ghost with the most never cries. Must be something in the air, you know airports and air and…stuff" He stuttered out pathetically, he knew he was fooling no one, especially Lydia. Jesus Christ he was never gonna live this down!
Lydia just smiled wide at her future husband before grabbing his hand to lead them out the airport.
"Come on my big rough tough ghost man, let's go home, we've got a wedding to plan."
"Lead the way babes".
The end.