||Devil's Advocate||Betelgeuse x Adam x Barbara

(𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧) Forgive, But Not Forget

When neither Lydia or Betelgeuse came down for dinner that same evening, that left all four of the adults equally as worried. So, whilst Delia cleaned and cleared away the dishes, Barbara and Adam made their way up to the attic in hopes that both living teenager and demon were okay.

Looking over towards one corner of the attic, both of the ghosts found the window that led out to the roof of the house was half-open. Turning to face Barbara, Adam said the one thing he knew was on both his and on her mind.

"You know, I'm not sure either one of them is okay."

Barbara nodded and gave Adam a brief 'you took the words right out of my mouth' look. Then they both turned back towards the still half-open window.

Both ghosts made their way over towards the window, Adam sliding it up further and climbing out onto the roof with Barbara following suit and closing it behind her. Stepping out further onto it, they immediately found Lydia and Betelgeuse sitting on opposite sides of the roof. Both of them had their eyes focused on the ground below, and Lydia appeared to be making a series of sad, but inaudible, sighing noises.

And a few long minutes passed them by rather slowly before any one of them, particularly Barbara, spoke up. "Lydia, Betelgeuse?"
Almost immediately afterwards, both of them turned their heads at the sound of Barbara's voice, then turned away again. The sad sighing that Lydia was doing started up again. Worriedly, Adam and Barbara looked at one another then moved to sit down on the roof on either side of Lydia. Betelgeuse, hair a mix of blue and purple, now had his attention turned over towards Adam, Barbara, and Lydia.

They looked over towards him, then at each other. After a while, it was Barbara who spoke up, her tone of voice warm but also a bit worried for the demon. "Did you want to come over here and talk?"

Betelgeuse considered this for a brief second, his hair briefly going back to its normal green before shifting to a light gray.

At the same time, a nervous look appeared on the demon's face.

"Betelgeuse?" This time, it was Adam who spoke.

Slowly the demon nodded, his hair reverting back to green as he stood up and moved to sit himself down near where Adam, Barbara, and Lydia were sitting. When Barbara motioned for him to move a little closer to the three of them, the demon hesitated - his hair color briefly turning a grayish purple before going back to green. Then he shifted a little closer to where everyone else was sitting.

"Do you want to talk to us, or should we talk to Lydia first?" Barbara asked, Betelgeuse turning to look over at her. He fell silent after a brief while, thinking quietly to himself before an answer to Barbara's question popped into his head.

"I think you guys should talk to Lydia first. I'm not in the mood to talk right now." Betelgeuse's hair became a light blue as he looked away from the three of them.

"Okay then," Barbara replied in an exuberant tone of voice, her and Adam both now looking over towards Lydia, who was also looking away from them and humming quietly to herself. "Lydia, do you want to tal-..."

The humming stopped briefly. Lydia looking over towards Adam and Barbara.

"I'm not in the mood to talk either!" the teenager mumbled in response.

"Well... we need to talk to both of you," explained Adam. "And you're both sitting on the roof and sulking. One of you still hasn't forgiven us and the other still seems to believe that we want to leave them alone and forget about them."

Lydia sighed, keeping her eyes focused on Adam and Barbara. When not one of them spoke a single word for the next few short minutes, it was Barbara who spoke up. "Lydia, we still want to know if you forgive us for what happened earlier. We can't have you ignoring us for longer than you have been."

Lydia said nothing for at least a few more minutes, worrying both Adam and Barbara - who glanced at one another.

Barbara rested a hand on Lydia's back, concern in her tone. "Lyd?"

"I'll only forgive you and Adam if you guys promise not to mention what you did," Lydia said after a few more minutes.

Adam and Barbara once again looked over at one another, considering this. That seemed like a fair thing. Her and Adam turning to face Lydia again, Barbara was the one who replied. "Okay, Lydia. We promise."

"And I forgive you," replied Lydia after a brief while, wrapping her arms around Barbara in a hug then doing the same thing with Adam.

She pulled apart from Adam and she and both Adam and Barbara turned their attention over towards Betelgeuse, who was still looking away from the three of them with his eyes still focused on the ground three stories below.

"Betelgeuse?" Barbara spoke up in a tone of concern and worry, turning the demon's attention away from the edge of the roof and over towards the three of them.

His hair, which had been a light bluish purple, became its normal green color.

And, once more, a brief period of silence befell the four of them.

Betelgeuse spoke up first. "Surprised you guys didn't go back inside to talk to Lydia. I would have thought you left me alone."

"Well, like I said earlier," Adam spoke up. "We needed to speak to both you and Lydia about two different things. Do you want to go back inside the attic and talk there?"

"Depends," Betelgeuse said as he looked from Barbara to Lydia before his attention returned to Adam.

"I could go back inside and leave you all to talk if it's okay with you guys," Lydia spoke up, Adam and Barbara looking at one another as they considered this.

Eventually, they looked back at Lydia.

A confused look appeared on Barbara's face as she cocked her head to the side, Adam doing so not too long after. "Are you sure, Lydia? You don't have to..."

She nodded a few times in response, the Maitlands agreeing shortly afterwards.

And, as Lydia headed back inside and closed the window behind her, the Maitlands both turned their attention over towards Betelgeuse, with Barbara being the one to speak up.

"Okay, Betelgeuse. Want to discuss you still believing we don't actually care about you?"

No answer.

"Betelgeuse?"