Out of Sight, Out of Mind//A Beetlejuice Fanfiction

||Chapter Six|| Forgiving

"What really happened whilst I was at school, guys?" asked Lydia, standing in front of all the adults in her life with her arms crossed. Betelgeuse just stood off to the side with a solemn look on his face and purplish blue hair. It was rather rare for her to be the one who was angry, especially towards her family. It was usually one or more of them who was angry at her for doing something she shouldn't.

Lydia looked down and shuddered then focused her attention back on her family. She still remembered the last time she had gotten in trouble. She was having a sleepover with a couple goth friends of hers that she'd met when Charles and Delia took her to tour the high school she had started at today (being a junior had it's perks and she was lucky that she and her two new friends had all their classes together). She had dared one of her friends, Cat, to do something ultimately dangerous and her parents had gotten so mad, Cat was grounded for two weeks and not allowed to see Lydia or their other friend, Trista Luna. Charles and Delia were mad as well and, on the car ride home, kept going on that Adam and Barbara were equally as mad when Charles got the phone call and told them and Delia what had happened.

"It's.... hard to explain," Barbara quietly explained. "Basically, not too long into your school day, Betelgeuse decided to show up and kept asking us for forgiveness."

"We kept telling him no," added Adam.

"Then when he told us that he spied on us for the last three months, which to him is three hours in the Netherworld, we got so infuriated with him and we kinda attacked and beat him up," continued her father. "Though it was mostly the Maitlands,

"Then we just sat and watched tv for five hours until you got home," finished Delia.

Lydia stared at her parents, her eyes wide. She hadn't expected her family's explanation as to what had happened at the house whilst she was at school to be that short. "So, let me get this straight," she said after a few minutes. "You guys all beat Betelgeuse up over the fact that he spied on you and then acted like nothing was up to make me believe that he wasn't around?"

Her family nodded, Barbara asking, "but you're okay with him being here?"

Lydia laughed. "Of course, duh! What would my life be like if I didn't have everyone involved in it back when we all ended up meeting each other? He's my best friend. Why wouldn't I want him here?"

Betelgeuse's eyes widened and a huge grin appeared on his face, his hair turning a shade of sunny yellow. Lydia still thought of him as her best friend? But earlier, she had said that she didn't think she could call him her best friend after everything he had done. Had the teenager changed her mind or?

His hair reverted to green as he looked to Lydia and she briefly smiled at him before turning her attention back over towards her family.

"He still caused trouble for the lot of us and nearly tried to kill your dad. Such actions are unforgivable, to say the least," pointed out Adam.

Lydia considered this for a moment. Her ghost father had a point. Betelgeuse had done a lot of bad things but Lydia still believed he could be forgiven for his actions, given a second chance. She looked back over towards Betelgeuse with a look that told him she wanted him to go back upstairs to her bedroom for a short moment whilst she talked this over with her family. It was the only thing he could do so he teleported up to her room.

"I still think it's necessary to forgive him though," replied Lydia after she made sure that Betelgeuse wasn't spying on them like he had the last three hours. "Sure he caused a lot of harm to us but don't you believe in second chances?"

Her dad, Adam, and Barbara were speechless for a moment, not knowing what say. Lydia saw a smile creep across her stepmother's face as she walked over towards Lydia and turned as she stopped, facing the rest of the family.

"Lydia's right," the former life coach turned member of the family spoke up, turning the attention of the rest of the adults from Lydia to her. "We should give him a second chance and forgive him. Three months ago, the universe sent Lydia a sign in the form of a shooting star and she made a wish that Betelgeuse would someday return. Now here we are. He has in fact returned. If we forgive him, wouldn't that make our lives and afterlives better?"

The rest of the adults sighed. Both Lydia and Delia were right. They really did need to forgive Betelgeuse. But it was three against two. The two living females stood and waited for the rest of the family to come to an agreement. Charles and the Maitlands talked amongst themselves with occasional glances towards Lydia and Delia and the staircase leading to the second floor of the house. To forgive Betelgeuse could mean that their lives and afterlives could potentially how they were that crazy week over a year ago. But there could also be some good that could come out of it, right. The remaining adults were stuck between whether or not they really should forgive him.

They eventually came to an agreement and turned towards Lydia and Delia.

"Okay," said Charles. "We'll forgive him. But if he tries anything, he's going back to the Netherworld."

A little while later, after doing her homework and having a snack of a cookie and a glass of milk summoned for her by Barbara, Lydia opened up her bedroom door and entered her room to find Betelgeuse sitting on her bed and drawing something on a sketchpad that he'd somehow found. Lydia sat down next to him and looked at what he was drawing.

"Is that a drawing of you and me scaring people away from the house like old times?" she asked.

He looked at her startled, his hair turning lime green. Apparently, he hadn't noticed that she was there, so the suddenness of her talking came as a surprise to him. He looked at the drawing then returned his attention back to Lydia. "Yeah," he said. "But is there another reason why you came up here, Lydia?"

"Yeah." She nodded in response. "Adam, Barbara, Delia, and my dad all agreed to forgive you and let you stay here as long as you don't try anything, otherwise you'll have to go back to the Netherworld. They'd also like you downstairs to go over some house rules we came up with not too long ago."

Slowly, Betelgeuse nodded and followed Lydia back downstairs.