As Delia still had the knowledge about where Charles and Lydia lived with her mother, she made sure to make sure that Betelgeuse and Lydia became friends. She knew that if they became friends, she could have an excuse to make Charles fall in love with her. Her plan was perfect, she knew that the two crazy children would become friends quickly considering how much they had in common. Delia managed to drag poor Betelgeuse on a walk in the park. He hated exercise and usually protested all morning about not wanting to go. This time was different, she had told the demon that she is taking him to get ice-cream and meet a new best friend. Once they got to the park Delia spotted Charles with a 7-year-old Lydia with her mother kicking leaves.

"Lydsie can you come here for sunscreen please? They heard Charles call Lydia over. The two watched and walked up to the family of three.

"Um hello, Mr. Deetz? I'm Delia Schlimmer." she introduced herself.

"Oh hello Mrs. Schlimmer, Pumpkin this is Mrs. Schlimmer and her son Betelgeuse." Charles introduced Betelgeuse to Lydia.

"That's a funny name mister, I'm called Lydia!" little Lydia said reaching out her hand to little Betelgeuse. He looked at his new mum silently asking what to do. She just pointed to her head showing he read her mind for what to do and he instantly shook Lydia's small hand. "Well technically that's only my middle name, it is named after the star of Orion which is the 10th brightest star in the sky!" Betelgeuse stated proudly.

"Ooh, you must be so lucky, Mom why can't I have a cool name like that?" the young female pouted.

"Well, I think Lydia is better than my first name, it's Lawrence!" Betelgeuse confessed. Lydia just started laughing at his name, so Betelgeuse started to chase her around the park. Both kids took off laughing with each other and having the time of their lives. It was clear they became friends rather quickly. Delia was glad he made a friend and burned all of the ice-cream off, he had problems getting excessively hyperactive with the smallest amount of sugar. Lydia had just been made fun of for not being tall enough to reach her bracelet people took of her. Despite being just a few inches taller than Lydia Betelgeuse stood up for her. He snatched back the bracelet and being Betelgeuse scared the evil bullies away. As the two got tired from all the running they decided to sit with the rest of the family. Betelgeuse, after getting permission from Charles, decided to tell Lydia the truth about him being a demon. Lydia was amazed, her face lit up and she pummelled her new best friend with questions to which he answered all of them, just leaving out the Juno part. Lydia dared Betelgeuse to summon and eat lots of beetles, being Betelgeuse, he did it with no hesitation. He even began to spin Lydia around until she was dizzy. As Betelgeuse began to get restless, he decided to go on a run around the park, carrying a laughing Lydia as he pretended to be a sandworm. As they got back and sat down, they decided to relax for five minutes. After the five minutes was up, chaos erupted again, Lydia began to run around on Betelgeuse's back for what appeared to be the twentieth time around the park.

"Okay, who wants to win 20 bucks?" Charles asked in an attempt to distract the two from the seemingly never-ending torture. Both 'B-F-F-F-F's' forever looked at each other then back to Charles and began nodding their heads rapidly. "Okay, you each get $20" Charles began holding some money to a tree before explaining the rules "All you have to do is keep the money on your heads, if you drop it, you lose it." he said and allowed the children to try to obtain the money. Both children placed their heads on the tree, ensuring they did not drop it, this is when Betelgeuse got a brilliant idea. Instead of using the tree he held the note in place with his hands. He gently tapped Lydia on the shoulder to get her attention. She giggled when she saw the demon's ingenious idea and imitated his thought process and they both sat down, still with the money on their heads.

"What the-?" Charles exclaimed.

"Charles, you never specified a particular or preferred method of maintaining the 20 bucks on our heads!" Betelgeuse answered and reminded him.

"Okay, congratulations Betelgeuse, you have cheated the system, enjoy the $20!" he said with a smile, rather surprised from his interesting and unique thought process. Emily and Delia just laughed at what they called the "chaotic duo".

"Well, honestly Charles, I don't know where I get my – oh look beetle!" Betelgeuse began before getting distracted by the smallest beetle and proceeding to catch it and eat it. As Delia knew him super well, she could have predicted this happening and pulled him back before he could run away too far and not find his way back.

Over the course of the next three years the two friends became inseparable. They would have a routine where every weekend they would have a sleepover at the other person's house. They loved to do things such as playing video games with each other, have movie marathons and play their favourite game "ditch the crystal obsessed life coach." Every week they would switch whose house they spent the night at. Eventually in the fifth year of friendship this all had to end. They moved into a house in Winter River, Connecticut which is the town where Adam and Barbara Maitland. The Maitlands were still alive at this point in time but still allowed the Deetz to join them and live with them. Delia managed to stop their death by ensuring they replaced the floorboards that they were supposed to fall through in six months' time. Without their deaths, Adam would have the ability to bring Betelgeuse back to life by marriage, when they fell in love with each other. Betelgeuse heard his name get called for dinner so he dragged his feet downstairs and slumped down in his spot at the table, conveniently next to Adam. his hair was a strange concoction of purple, red and gold. He slammed his head onto the table of the surface so hard it bounced around the room. "Well you're cheary(!)" Delia said sarcastically.

"Hmf!" was all the demon had to respond. It was remarkably unmistakable to Adam that the demon was depressed and worried about something so he pulled him into a hug and allowed Betelgeuse to relax his head on his chest.

"What's up BJ?" he asked but got no response from him. "Just wanna cuddle?" he asked and got a nod in response.

"BJ? Please can you use your words and say what is the matter?" Delia asked in her soft tone of voice.

"Just miss Dad!" Betelgeuse mumbled.

"Oh okay!" Delia said in understanding and took his hand.

"He could be anywhere in the universe which may as well be space with no end." the demon complained.

AN: This next scene was inspired by the original DC version of 'No Reason' from Beetlejuice: The Demos

"The universe is more than just space with no end." Delia reminded him. "Just think of the universe as a female best friend. And you can be like, "Hey, universe, what's happening, girl?" And she'll be like, "Oh, nothing, just running the world'." she continued before Lydia joined in.

"And you'll be like, 'What?' And the universe would be like, 'I know.' You're on the right track, Beej, I got your back, Beej, I'm helping you grow." Lydia said and Betelgeuse just placed his hand on top of his head indicating to the fact he is only 5ft 1 a this time before again slamming his head onto the table. At full height he would be 5ft 6 but he hadn't finished growing yet.

"Think positive, act positive, you are a child of the Earth." Delia instructed him, hoping her son would cheer up.

"Oh my God, this is literally the worst." Betelgeuse lifted his head to complain before proceeding to rest his head on the dinner table.

"I eat superfoods, do yoga nude, and nurture my bliss." The life coach gave some examples of what she does to remain happy.

"What is bliss?" Betelgeuse asked but his question wasn't answered. It was clear he had temporarily forgotten what happiness was.

"Don't eat carbs or fat, there's no room for that when you're all this." spoke Delia, gesturing to her body. "Remember what Oprah said, we're all made of stars. And you get a car, you get a car." she quoted before looking at the excitement on the demon's face.

"I get a car? Are you kidding me?" he asked.

"Well, no, not literally." Delia said and continued "Everything, everything happens for a reason. Be a beacon of light in the world, put a little "alright" in the world. There are spiritual guides above, look up and see 'em." she instructed, gesturing above her to the roof. "Perception is reality, just listen to the melody the universe sings. Everything, everything happens for a reason." she finished.

"Gee, I hate to break it to you. The universe is just the contents of space, matter, and time. Approximately ninety-one billion light-years across and benign. Each day people die, yeah, in famine and wars. The Pacific Islands are sinking, but negative thinking is hardly the cause." the demon went on to ruin the positivity. He focused his attention on Lydia "You can think about unicorns and rainbows all you like But positivity is a luxury for the privileged and white. You're gonna die, yes, you and them, in meaninglessness and alone." whilst pointing to Delia then to the rest of the people sat at the table with their heads buried in their palms and shaking their heads slightly. They didn't want a fight to erupt as it was clear that Betelgeuse would win and it would end in tears for the rest of them, and they would not be his. Betelgeuse looked like he wanted to continue but was cut off by Lydia

"No, no no! Everything, everything happens for a reason." she said.

"I don't think so." Betelgeuse was rapid to intrude on her comment.

"Just whisper your truth in the world. Is there a burden of proof in your world?" Delia asked, slightly annoyed that these words couldn't even change Betelgeuse just like they couldn't for Lydia. "Seal up your fears in Tupperware and freeze 'em" she tried but got a confused "Tupperware?" from Betelgeuse. "Just dance your living mantra, you'll find the answer, that's your tantra."

"The cure for ADHD?" Betelgeuse asked, blaming his ADHD for the reason his father left him. For some reason he believed the way he acted because of it, which wasn't diagnosed until after his father left him, was why he was despised so much.

"Well, maybe we'll see 'Cause everything'' Delia began before being rapidly interrupted by Betelgeuse saying "Nothing just" but she chose to ignore it and finish with "happens for a reason'' She went on to continue whilst waving her hands around in strange actions. "Spirituality is like a seed: you need to feed and water it, be sure it sees the sun for energy and prune the weeds of self-doubt and fear." She finished, knowing Betelgeuse sort of liked gardening but he would deny it as it wasn't seen as a 'manly' thing to like. "The notion of a spirit is a heap of junk, a myth. A carrot dangled on a stick to make us infinite and the threat of inevitable death less severe."

"The innate nature of nature is too-" Adam began.

"Too good? Oh my God, did you get that from a book?" Betelgeuse finished.

"God is the consciousness between the atoms." Barbara said.

"Actually, I'd prefer the term 'stuff happens'!" Betelgeuse responded truthfully and was careful not to actually swear in front of Lydia.

"No one's whole until they know their soul." Emily spoke, trying to get the demon to think more positively.

"The soul was created for state control!" Betelgeuse reminded his Auntie.

"Well, every cloud has a silver lining!" Charles reminded Betelgeuse of an overused quote.

"So there's a bright side to my father leaving?" Betelgeuse asked, yelling louder than anticipated. He took a breath to calm down before jumping onto the table, waving his hands around strongly. "Terrible things can happen for no reason! Stop making up junk about the world, just to make yourselves feel alright about the world. We're all just dodging tigers in a coliseum. You can focus like a dope on bogus, hippy, new-age hocus-pocus But it's hopeless, you'll see!" Betelgeuse snapped looking between everyone.

"But failure's defeatist!" Delia reinded.

"Success is elitist!" Betelgeuse responded.

"Passion is power" Lydia spoke back.

"Ew, i need a shower" the demon managed to keep topping whatever was said and this became a battle.

"Glory" Delia tried to win.

"Boring" Betelgeuse crafted a response.

"Gaia"

"Haria"

"Karma"

"Drama"

"Nirvana!"

"Banana?"

"Self-realization!"

"Self-masturbation."

"Interconnectedness

"Humanist separatist"

"Consciousness, free will" Delia called but Betelgeuse won the battle to have the final word. "Jesus, what a cliché" he yelled.

"Well, maybe you're better off dead!" Lydia, who now rejoined in, yelled at the demon who was startled and temporarily silenced. Noone had ever seen Lydia so enraged and everyone just fell silent.

"See? Terrible things can happen for no reason." he asked before slumping down and cuddling up to Adam."Well, it's official, you're too depressed to be cheered up right now." Emily spoke and got up to cuddle the demon. She had become like a third mother to him and he loved her as if he was her son as well as Juno and Delia's. Betelgeuse had even begun referring to Emily and Charles as 'Aunt and Uncle' and they loved that.

"Anyway is it a special day tomorrow?" Barbara asked to try to cheer up Betelgeuse with a reminder it's his birthday tomorrow.

"I don't know, fifth of February, doesn't ring any bells?" Delia said, joining in with the teasing. "That's what I am dreading!" Betelgeuse mumbled before hitting his head on the table again which clearly hurt him this time around. He began to rub the sore spot on his head and barely managed to suppress tears.

"How can you dread your birthday Beej?" Lydia asked, just as confused as the others.

"Because I'm never going to see you guys again." The demon sniffled.

"Oh why?" Charles asked whilst taking Betelgeuse's hand in a caring way.

"Because i'm going to be 17, it is compulsory that I work in the Neitherworld for the rest of eternity. And what's worse is the fact Mom will be my boss!" the demon said and made a weird noise that sounded like a groan mixed with a weep.

"Wait, Beej do you have to go?" Barbara asked "Like is there really no way of allowing you to stay here?"

"No! I have to go. I was supposed to go when I was 16, but after begging for days I managed to persuade Mom to allow me to have one more year with you guys." The demon uttered. Everyone just grouped together and hugged the demon close to them before his head went a fiery red and forcefully shoved everyone out of the way. For their own safety of course. He felt strange, like just furious with having to leave and he couldn't contain his anger anymore. He picked a knife up off the table and held it as if he was about to stab himself where his heart should be.

"Betelgeuse, please put the knife down!" Charles pleaded, a look of pure fear and sorrow in his eyes and on his face. Betelgeuse looked him dead in the eye and began crying without his control. Everyone began yelling things that were not able to be made out, it was most likely something to do with how they should stop Betelgeuse hurting himself.

"Shut up. SHUT UP!" he yelled, clearly becoming affected from the bunch of negative and intrusive thoughts caused by everyone yelling. He let out a scream before turning around to run towards the wall and stab it repeatedly, allowing his anger to escape. His screams of anger were also mixed with sorrowful sadness. The demon was being overwhelmed by too many emotions to cope with.

"That's it, get it all out." Emily approached the demon as if to hug him and get the knife off him before he ended up hurting himself.

"Please leave me alone!" Betelgeuse requested.

"Betelgeuse, come on now-" Emily started before she was interrupted by the demon.

"I don't wanna hurt you Aunty Emily. Please!" he pleaded and the others left him. From outside the door they could hear him yelling things like "I HATE MY LIFE! WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?" And just screaming in a combination of all his emotions. He really wore himself out and eventually collapsed to the ground before he could make contact with the wall. As there was a sudden silence, Delia ran back into the dining room to make sure Betelgeuse hadn't hurt himself. She saw his body laying there on the ground as if lifeless, knife still in hand.

"BJ?" she asked and gently shook the demon who sat bolt upright. "Thank god, are you okay?" she chuckled and hugged the demon tenderly.

"Yeah, i've just worn myself out." Betelgeuse replied with a yawn and a stretch, clearly fighting to stay awake.

"You go on up to bed then." Delia ordered whilst tenderly stroking his cheak and the demon went upstairs and fell asleep as soon as his face hit his pillow. With Betelgeuse now 17, he had to start working in the Neitherworld, he hated going for a multitude of reasons. He had to be his mother's assistant meaning he had less and less time to spend with Lydia. An advantage was he got to scare breathers out of houses and be a guide to all of the recently deceased ghosts. She walked through the door to see her son wrapped in the embrace of the Maitlands and Deetzes.

"Gonna miss you Betelbro!" Lydia cried and grasped the demon.

"Hey Scarecrow, I'm a miss you too."

"Jesus Christ, give it a rest." She commanded the people to stop showing affection to the demon. They all jumped, Betelgeuse the most as he hadn't heard shouting in ages but was still full of bad memories when his mother would yell at him.

"Does he have to go?" Charles asked, not willing to let go of the child he considered his son.

"Yes, Neitherworld law." she barked back. Charles turned to the demon and pulled him further to the hug and booped his nose.

"Uncle Charles, I'm sure I will be okay." Betelgeuse supported and Charles' eyes welled up with tears. "And Mom? I wanna thank you for taking great care of me." The demon spoke and handed his life coach mum the beetle crystal his father had given him when he was 13. "Dad gave it to me a few months before- well b-before h-he left." Delia began crying whilst wrapped in the embrace of her son.

"I'm sorry? 'Uncle', 'Mom'?" Juno question, enraged.

"Uh-" Betelgeuse tried to run, bolting at the stairs. Juno painfully pulled the demon to her by his hair. "What are you doing? I am your mother, not her."

"U-uh, w-w-we-well" Betelgeuse cursed himself for stuttering and Juno mocked him before hitting him on both sides of his face. Everyone gasped and Betelgeuse ran to Charles to hide from her. Charles wrapped the demon in his arms and stroked his hair, being careful not to get the spot which made Betelgeuse purr adorably. Turns out the back of his hair didn't cause the purr, it was just on top of his head. The teenager sank into his arms and tried everything he could to stop the tears. He was only just successful. God, his mom was too tough on him. There was a handprint shaped bruise covering the right side of his face that resulted from the contact. There was another, fainter handprint on the left side of his face and it didn't hurt as much as the bruise on his right cheek did. God that was painful. Emily walked up to the demon and stretched out an inviting hand and gently rubbed the tender bruise. The demon yelped when Emily made contact.

"Oh Lawrence, toughen up. I barely touched you." Juno insulted and the demon did his best to show no more emotions.

"Why is she like this?" he whispered to the demon who shrugged.

"What's that? I hope you're comfortable saying whatever it is that you are feeling straight to my face!" she said in her usual evil voice. Everyone just hugged Betelgeuse closer to them. "We don't like you!" they said and Juno was silenced.

"Honestly, you treat him NOTORIOUSLY APPALLING." Charles yelled loudly, causing the demon to tense up. "You know, if you even CONSIDER treating him right, then you will see that he is actually an exceptionally wonderful boy!" he continued yelling but remembered that he ought to stop with poor Betelgeuse's trauma.

"You are telling me how to raise my screw-up son? Adorable(!)" Juno responded harshly. She lit a cigarette and took a puff of it, before going for another one she went to press it against Charle's face but Betelgeuse moved his hand there, taking the burn himself. He gasped and inhaled sharply from the pain.

"You didn't have to do that BJ!" Charles spoke, shocked about what the demon was willing to do for him.

"I know Unc- uh- Charles." the demon caught himself before he did something he knew him mum would make him regret for a year. "I wanted to." Betelgeuse finished. When Juno was distracted by her lighter bursting into flame from her anger, Delia had managed to sprint to the cupboard and apply some cream to the burn before she could be seen helping the demon. Since they moved in, she ensured there was a first aid kit in every room just in case it was necessary.

"What have you done to my disciplinable son?" Juno asked harshly.

"I'm sorry? 'Disciplinable'?" Barbara spoke, rather enraged but suppressing the urge to yell. "We have been treating him correctly and look at what he is willing to do. If you treat him right, I'm sure that you would have his respect and love."

"Yeah, take a look inside of yourself and see if it is acceptable to torture your son since he was 6!" Adam barked.

"5 actually." Betelgeuse responded, shocking everyone but Delia who secretly knew the demon's past. Juno thought for a few seconds that felt like a few minutes and pulled her son away from Charles and hugged him. "Mom?"

"They're right, I'll treat you better in the future. We have to go now, come on."

"Wait, if you are gonna treat him right, then the least you can do is let him have a small sense of freedom." Delia chimed, holding onto the demon's lower arm.

"Fine." Juno sighed. "You can come visit here whenever you want but you will have to do double the workload in that short time." Juno spoke, trying to change the demon's mind but she failed. With Delia being a life coach, this time not with Otho who turned out to be a fraud called Kevin, Betelgeuse asked her to help him mentally and she enthusiastically agreed. She would provide him with the mental support he needed.

Betelgeuse had only been working for his mum a week before he came home one day with a pretty mixture of blue, yellow and purple hair. As soon as he passed through the door, Lawrence retreated as fast as he could to his old bedroom, hand covering the side of his face. Luckily, no one saw the state he was in.

"Wonder what is up with BJ? Normally he latches onto Delia for snuggle time" Lydia said.

"I don't know? I'll go up and check on him." Delia responded and made her way into his room, which was double the size of his old room. When she got there, she saw the demon frantically pull the covers over him to hide him. "Hey Mousey." she greeted in her bright voice, just like how his father would say it. She tried to pull the blanket off her adopted son but he would grunt and pull it back over him so Delia couldn't see him. "Hey! Cheeky!" Delia chuckled in a playful voice, running a hand along the demon's side and wiggling her fingers under the blanket, earning a quiet and half suppressed giggle. The demon swatted her hand away and grumbled something inaudible. "What's that?" Delia questioned softly, noticing the demon wasn't in a playful mood.

"You'll make me talk about it and I don't wanna. Not yet." Betelgeuse repeated.

"I won't, I promise." Delia smiled but gasped as Betelgeuse pulled the covers off himself. Delia almost cried when she saw the demon with cuts and bruises all over his face and body, both shocking and concerning her. "Mousey! Aww, I'm sorry." she spoke with sympathy as she caressed the demon. "What happened?"

"Mom, I told you I don't wanna talk to it and you promised me!" Betelgeuse reminded her and she apologised.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. You don't have to talk but I would like for you to come downstairs. We are all concerned about you." Delia reassured and Betelgeuse walked down with her and plonked on Adam's lap on the sofa. Adam groaned and Betelgeuse chuckled and shuffled off him and sat in between the two Maitlands. He looked at the concerned expression on the family's face.

"You guys are that concerned about me, huh?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah!" Barbara spoke as if it was obvious. "What happened to you?"

"He says he isn't ready to talk at the moment but he will later on." Delia chimed and the family agreed. They sat in silence, watching a Disney film. After ten minutes Betelgeuse felt ready to talk.

"Hey guys?" He got the attention of the family.

"Yes hon?" Delia asked.

"U-uh, I'm ready to talk." Betelgeuse responded with a small smile. Emily turned off the TV and everyone paid full attention to what the demon had to say.

"My mom happened," said Betelgeuse, focusing his attention onto Barbara. "She did this to me." Betelgeuse responded, looking down to avoid contact.

"She hates you that much, huh." said Lydia as she hugged her brother figure close. Betelgeuse looked at Lydia and then at the Maitlands, then the Deetzes. he painfully scooted off the sofa and sat on the floor.

"We'll get her to leave you alone and let you live here with us again. You know the five of us are much friendlier and nicer than she is." said Barbara, pulling Betelgeuse into a hug, which he accepted with a smile.

"We'll think of something." Charles smiled and Emily took the demon's hand and massaged gentil circles into the back of it with a thumb.

"Thanks guys." said Betelgeuse as he pulled out of Barbara's hug. "I guess that sounds nice."

"Anytime." Charles nodded, who had recently joined in the cuddle with the rest of the family. "Now-" said Barbara, eying Betelgeuse up and down and feeling the pain on herself every time her eyes fell on one of the bruises on the teen male. "How about we get all these injuries cleaned up. Looks like we're gonna need a lot of bandages as that's a lot of laceration you've got."

"Thanks Babs." mumbled Betelgeuse. Barbara marched over to a cupboard and pulled out a first aid kit with lots of supplies to bandage up all of the injuries. "Thanks Babs." said Betelgeuse a second time once Barbara bandaged up every single wound. Lydia and Betelgeuse decided to spend some time together upstairs after the film had finished. The house was almost silent, the only sound was the TV playing quietly in the background.

"Hmm. Too quiet." Charls spoke after coming back from grocery shopping.

"Yeah, where's the chaotic duo?" Emily asked, realising the silence in the house. The last time the house was that quiet Lydia and Betelgeuse almost burned it down before Barbara put it out. Noticing Delia looked tired, Charles walked upstairs to try and locate the demon and his breather friend. When he creaked open Betelgeuse's door he saw the two peacefully sleeping. Betelgeuse was curled up in a little ball and Lydia was ungracefully sprawled out like a star, resting her legs on the demon's head and hip. Charles chuckled and pulled the blanket that lay screwed up on the floor, most likely from the two having a habit of moving around in their sleep, over the two children and left them to sleep.

"Well? Where are they and what are they up to?" Emily asked.

"Sleeping, Betelgeuse is curled up whilst Lydia is sprawled out, half on top of him." Charles chuckled as did everyone else.

"Aww, they are so cute." Adam spoke, imagining what they looked like. They all soon fell asleep and were woken up to the smell of fire. Not again. It didn't take long for the source of the fire to be located along with a sheepish pair of children hiding on the roof.

"Well well well, this is what happens when you two nap?" Charles chuckled, clearly not amused but not sounding too harsh.

"You gotta admit Uncle Chuckles, you secretly like it when we create chaos dont ya." the demon chuckled and playfully lunged at the gentleman who chuckled and led the two inside, closing to forgive them. After another 4 years had passed and Lydia's mother got badly sick with cancer. Unfortunately, she lost the fight causing Lydia to get depressed. Luckily with Betelgeuse working in the Neitherworld and knowing Lydia's mum really well, he ensured the two could see each other whenever they wanted, even though he was risking getting banished if he was caught by Juno. Everybody was happy, Lydia still adopted her classic gothic look, just not in complete mourning like Delia knew before changing the future to come. Every weekend Emily Deetz, Lydia's mum would come to stay the night and have a great film night with the family.