The Whole Being Alive Thing

Come Hell or High Water

Lydia nodded, moving to sit down next to her best friend before her dad and Delia could do as much as stop her. Sure he did bad stuff in the past and tried to kill all of them on top of that, but Charles and Delia figured that it'd be best if they just stayed out of the way. Both Lydia and Betelgeuse stayed silent for a brief while, unsure of what to say. All that was and had been on Lydia's mind was that she would never see her best friend again, that he'd gone to the Netherworld with no intention of returning. Which Lydia had initially thought of as being unlikely. At least up until now.

And what was currently on Betelgeuse's mind? Why he was suddenly alive and a breather instead of dead and a demon. Had this been what his ma meant when she said 'a taste of your own medicine'?

He chose not to think about that, pushing that thought to the back of his mind.

"Bj?" Lydia spoke up, the first to do so after about a while. He turned and glanced over in her direction, then looked away, focusing back down towards the ground and studying his fingers for a brief while when Lydia couldn't think of what else to say. The words didn't seem to come to her until a mere few minutes later. "How did things go back in the Netherworld? Did you find your dad?"

"No..."

"Oh," Lydia replied, then shifted a little, looking up towards the clear day sky.

After yet another moment of silence that befell the four of them, it was Betelgeuse himself who happened to speak up, feeling a bit unsure about all of this. He wasn't sure that they would let him stay after he tried to kill all of them. "I don't suppose that I could stay with you guys from now on, can't I?"

Lydia was deep in thought about all of this, looking over towards her dad and Delia and wanting to know what they had to say about all of this. "So, dad, Delia, what do you think? Should... can he stay with us?"

Both adults shared a glance, then turned back to Lydia and Betelgeuse, exceptionally stern looks appearing on both of their faces as they folded their arms. Finally though, out of both adults, it was her dad who was the one who had an answer to her question. "No! Absolutely not! In no way are we going to allow him to live with us!"

Lydia stood up and made her way over towards her dad and Delia, coming to a stop not too far from where they were both standing - the two of them still keeping their stern yet furious gazes locked solely over onto Betelgeuse, who was starting to become nervous. "C'mon! Please, dad! He's a human now... a living person like us. Can't you please just let him stay with us? Please?"

"Yeah, c'mon, ol' Chuck, my man! Please?" Betelgeuse said, now pouting and giving him puppy dog eyes - which did nothing to change his mind on the matter.

"My answer remains no!" he firmly said, tapping his foot and making his daughter even more annoyed and desperate than she previously was. "Now, come on, Lydia, we have to get back home. Adam and Barbara are waiting for us."

"We're not leaving until you agree to let him stay with us," Lydia said, causing her dad and Delia, who had begun on their way back home, to stop and turn in her direction. She had her fists clenching and she seemed to refuse to move until both of them said that it was okay for Betelgeuse to stay with them. Behind her, he stood, still nervous and glancing around at his surroundings.

"Lydia, come on, please, let's just go," her dad tried in an attempt to convince her to head back home. But the teenager stayed firmly still, not wanting to move.

"But.... dad, he's my best friend. We can't just leave him alone here. Not when he's stuck here as a living person. Please, we need to give him a chance. He needs it. Please just let him stay with us. Please."

Charles opened his mouth to speak, then closed it when Delia walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at her, and noted the soft, small smile on his second wife's head. "Lydia's right, Charles. We can't just leave him all alone out here. He can stay with us if he wants to stay with us. And since Lydia seems to want him to stay, then so do I. What say, Charles?"

"I- what will the Maitlands think about all of this when we come home with him in tow?" When Delia, Lydia, and Betelgeuse each gave him a pleading look, he let out a low, quiet, and long sigh. "Alright! Fine! He can stay with us!" Looking pointedly over at Betelgeuse, in a furious yet stern tone of voice, he added, "but no chaos or trouble! Got it?"

"Abso-lute-ly," was Betelgeuse's response as the four of them began on their way home.

As they walked, Betelgeuse would not stop going random places and doing things that he didn't know he wasn't supposed to do - including eating flowers and running off at random intervals. And when they finally got home, Charles stopped Betelgeuse in his tracks and Lydia and Delia, who were now halfway up the stairs, stopped and turned on their heels to look at the two of them.

"Now, mr. Betelgeuse..?" Charles paused, unsure if he should refer to him as that - since he was no longer a demon. Betelgeuse nodded, and Charles continued, "now, before we head inside, please be aware that we will have a strict set of rules that you need to follow. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly." Betelgeuse nodded again, following the Deetzes inside. Charles closed the door behind Betelgeuse as soon as the latter stepped through.

"ADAM! BARBARA! WE'RE BACK!" Lydia suddenly shouted out, and Betelgeuse suddenly became nervous all over again as both of the ghosts floated out from the kitchen to greet them.

"How was it?" Barbara asked, a small smile on her face.

"Good... we ended up running into a certain someone whilst we were on our way back here though..." Lydia glanced off to the side and pointed a hand.

Both of the ghosts' gazes flicked from Lydia to Betelgeuse, who had since paled, silently wishing that he was still a demon and not a breather. And severe looks of anger flashed across both of their faces as Barbara asked, "what... is he doing here?"