3rd Time's the Charm [A Beetlejuice Fanfic]

V

Barbara POV

We're in deep shit now.
"Don't just stare at me like that! Tell me what's going on!" He walks into the room and shuts the door behind him. He takes a deep breath and sits next to me. Beej squeezes himself in between us, guarding me protectively. "Can you leave us alone, please? We need to talk." Adam says to him.
He snarls. "I'm not leaving you alone with her. Not after what you did."
Adam glances between the two of us, before noticing my eye, no longer concealed in makeup. He stares at me for a minute then turns back to Bj. "We were drunk."
"You were perfectly sober when you pushed her, dipshit." Beetlejuice fires back.
"I just want to talk to her. Please. Just stand in the hall or something."
          Beetlejuice looks at me, asking if it's okay with me.
Should I trust him? He seems to be calmer now. ...Maybe he really does want to talk. We can work something out.
I slowly nod and BJ gets up. Once he's behind Adam he glances over his shoulder at me, and mouths 'I'll be right outside.' I nod and watch him go, then turn back to Adam. Before I can even open my mouth to speak, he lunges at me. The edges of my vision go black with pain, and I feel blood trickle down my face. He doesn't stop. He pushes me off of the bad and I hit the ground. Hard. He stands over me and kicks me over and over again in the ribs. I let out a panicked scream. I don't even know if I can call it a scream, actually. It was more a groan. But it's enough.

Beetlejuice POV

I hear a thump. It doesn't sound good. I press my ear to the door so I can hear what's going on. Then, she yelps. I throw the door open and look. Adam is standing over her, kicking her. She's curled up as small as she can be, with her arms covering her neck and head. My hair flushes red and I grab him in a chokehold, throwing him against the wall and beating the absolute shit out of him. I don't know how long it was before Charles pulled me off of Adam. As soon as Adam is out of my grasp he slumps to the floor.
         "What the hell are you doing?! Get out of my house right now-! I knew you didn't change! Why would you hurt them?!" He gestures to Barbara, then Adam. I close my eyes and try to calm myself.
          Before I can though, Barbara speaks. Her voice is gravely and weak, but it's there. "He- he didn't hurt me. ...Adam did. Beej w-was protecting me."
          Charles looks at her, then Adam, and finally me. "Is... this true?"
          I nod. "And it's not the first time. He's hurt her before too. A couple times actually." I turn and glare at Adam, as my hair fires up again.
           Charlie walks over to Adam and crosses his arms "Did you hurt her?"
           Adam looks up, dazed and confused, then slowly nods.
           "Then get out of my house." His voice is firm, not a trace of sympathy in it.
            Adam blinks at him. "Wh- no-! You can't kick me out. I lived here first." He tries his best to get up, then falls back down again.
           Charles scoffs. "Well, I live here now. So get up and get out." Adam tries to get up, but slumps on the floor again. Charlie takes his hand and helps him out of the room. I watch from the top of the stairs as he gives Adam his (Adam's) keys and shoves him out the door. He turns to me. "Go make sure she's okay."
          I stand there for a second, trying to process what happened. "Damn Charlie, that was pretty badass." I chucke. Then Barbara crosses my mind again, and I rush into her room. She's still in the same position as before. I kneel by her and gently brush some of her hair out of her face. "Hey, Babs. He's gone, okay? He won't hurt you." Her glassy eyes look at me. They're still filled with fear, but now I see a sliver of hope. "Now lets get you cleaned up." I gently pick her up. I feel her wince a bit, and try to be more careful. I take her to the bathroom and slowly lay her down on the tile. Why the hell would anyone want to hurt that angel? I glance over her body quick then smirk at her. I don't know if I imagined it, but I'm pretty sure that she smiled back. I grab a washcloth and slowly wet it in water, hating every second of it. Calm down. It's for her. You're doing this for her. I've hated water basically my whole life. But I have to suck it up and help her.

Barbara POV

I don't remember much. All I know is that Adam hurt me, then Charles took him away, and now Beej is helping me get cleaned up. He speaks with a soft tone as he gently wipes the blood off of my face.
"I'm here now. I got you." My eyes trail away from him. "Babs- Babs, look at me. Focus on me, okay?" I try to nod, but my consciousness is fading fast. His eyes immediately shift to worry. "Hey- stay with me here- Are you okay?" I squeeze my eyes shut, the adrenaline wearing off and the pain starting to set in. He bites his lip nervously then picks me up bridal style and carrys me to my room, gently laying me on my bed and bringing the covers over my body. "Hang tight." He snaps, teleportig himself out of the room then comes back less than a minute later with an ice pack. He places it on my bruised eye. "There. Don't pass out, okay? Stay awake for me." I try to listen to his words, but the pain is overwhelming. One second I'm staring into his chocolate truffle eyes, and the next my conciseness slips away.

Hi! Thank you so much doctorskitten for this chapter idea!!
So I know ghosts cant technically go outside, but I'm doing an AU where they can because I'll need to use it later.
This chapter was fun to write. I stan protective!beej. No one can take him from me.
If you liked the chapter, be sure to give it a vote! And consider following me? I follow back!
I hope everyone is staying safe in quarantine. Wash your hands!
~Maddie 🖤