𝔥𝔬𝔪𝔢 | 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔱𝔩𝔢𝔧𝔲𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔩

𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦

I felt helpless.
"Dad, just a few days?"

"I'll be so good," Betelgeuse piped in. "I swear on my life."
Dad looked unimpressed. "You're dead."
"Okay, then I promise," he replied with a smirk.

This clearly wasn't going anywhere. I was going to have to use my most brutal emotional manipulation tactic against Dad. I didn't want to, but sometimes, it's wholly necessary. There's this face I can do that looks exactly like Mom. I just have to narrow my eyes slightly like I'm confused and push out my bottom lip. Since she left, I've used it a couple of times when I really need something. It works without fault. So, I decided this situation was critical enough to use the look.

"Please?" I gave Dad the look, and I saw his features soften. He glanced back to Adam, Barbara, and Delia, looking for a reason to say no.
"How hard is this going to be?" Dad asked with no enthusiasm.
"Not hard at all!" Beej asserted.
"Well, what is this going to take? Are you going to destroy our house again?"
"No! Lydia and I already talked this over. I'll just stay in the guest room, and I won't bother anyone except Lydia."

Dad's hand was pressed on his chin in thought.
"Lydia, we're going to go talk for a moment, alright?" Dad motioned for Adam, Barbara, and Delia to follow him upstairs.

"How'd I do?" Betelgeuse asked when they were gone. We were both sitting, backs against the wall.
"I guess that's as good as it's gonna get with you," I teased.
"I feel hurt. They were so mean to me. I thought we were friends. See, this is why you're the only living person I trust, Lydia. You guys all suck."
"I think they were just scared," I said in an attempt to comfort him.
"You're the only person that understands me," he
"Right back at you, Beej," I sighed.
"Wait." He looked like he had gotten a bad idea. "I'm supposed to be mad at you! Why did you leave me?"
I was dreading that question. "I had to. I was afraid. It's a little hard for me to trust you."
"You hurt me," he pouted.
"Okay, Betelgeuse. Sorry," I shrugged. "I'm
here now."
"Okay."

We shared a minute of companionable silence until he spoke again.
"Do you really want me to stay?"
"I think so," I giggled. "But you need to be good."
"Well, how good?"
"Stay in your room, don't harass Adam, don't scare people, you know?"
"But that's so hard!" he groused.
"It's that or Hell. I'll keep you company when I can, but I'm starting school soon."
"It's fine, I'm used to being lonely," he basked in his own misery.
I fought back the urge to roll my eyes at his drama, but as I sat there thinking, a wave of nauseating anxiety struck me. He noticed my change in demeanor pretty fast.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm scared. I'm scared this is going to go horribly wrong like last time."
"Are you going to cry?"
"No," I said, but I could feel my eyes getting damp. I had done a lot of crying in these last few days. "Betelgeuse, you have to make this promise for me and you have to keep it. You have to be good."
"I promise."
"I just feel so messy," I breathed, and it was true. Everything felt messy. "How long do you think you're gonna stay?"
"A week or so, probably. Hey, you know you got me in trouble?"
"Huh?"
"Yeah, someone found out I took a living girl into the Netherworld. I'm on probation. You can't come back now, so this is probably going to be our last time together unless you summon me."
"Oh," I played back my memories and saw the gray face of that girl who was questioning me. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," he dismissed.

I stared blankly at the floor in thought. "Betelgeuse?" I frowned.
"Yeah?"
"I don't think you can do this."
"Why?" he asked, offended.
"I just feel like it's going to end horribly. I'm scared. This all feels like such a mess, and I'm sorry, but I don't believe for one second that you could put other people first."
"Lydia," he groaned, "I am trying to make peace with myself. This is going to be very therapeutic for me."
"That's great, Beej!" I applauded sarcastically. "But keep in mind that you have quite a strange definition of therapeutic."
"Trust me," he affirmed. "I'm not going to betray you and ruin your life. Don't forget, I made you a beetle ring." He held out his hand. I held out mine, my lips curling up at the sight of our matching rings.
"Is that thing still alive?" I asked, pointing to the glitter-coated beetle in the glass.
"No," he smiled graciously.
I smiled, too.

When I heard the dull hum of conversation upstairs come to a halt, I grabbed Betelgeuse's hand a little aggressively.
"This could be it." I was still trying to convince myself it wasn't. "If I don't see you again, in this lifetime, I mean," I laughed ruefully, "then I promise I'll find you."
"If you can't find me, then I'll find you," he replied smugly.
"Thank you." I hugged him once more, wondering if it would be the last time.

"Lydia?"
The sound of my father's voice startled me. They had snuck up on us.
I panicked. "Dad, please-"
"He can stay."

Betelgeuse screamed in a way I had never heard come out of anything. That scream could have shattered glass.