We arrived at the venue in around 25 minutes. It was a large park with an amphitheater in a nearby town, and the weather was perfect, but just a little nippy with the breeze blowing. We piled out of Maddi's small car and looked around, everyone all grins.

"Okay, Adler and I are going to scope out a good spot, would you guys wanna go grab drinks and food? They have some food trucks over there," Maddison said to me, pulling out her wallet and handing me thirty dollars in cash. "This is for Adler and me, and then y'all get whatever you want."

I smiled and nodded. "'Course! We'll come find you two as soon as we get the food," I told her, backing up a few steps in the direction of the food trucks, motioning for Beej to follow.

We started walking through the throng of people and food trucks, looking around for something that sounded appetizing.

"What are you in the mood for?" I asked Beetlejuice, crossing my arms as I stared at the trucks around us.

He shrugged. "I can eat whatever. I don't really have a preference."

I nodded. "Noted." I scanned the scene, starting to lose hope of finding something I wanted, until I spotted the tent with the red chicken on it.

"Oh, hallelujah," I said, smiling and making my way over to the Holy Chicken tent.

"Chikfila?" Beej asked, smiling and arching his eyebrow at me.

"Hey, you can't go wrong with an original chicken sandwich," was my reply as we stepped into the back of the long line. Seeing this, I noted: "I don't care how long the line is I haven't had Chikfila in a hot minute and I am craving it."

My friend laughed, and I smiled at him.

"Thanks for coming, by the way," I said, looking back ahead of us as we shuffled forward a bit. "I know things got a little... weird before you left."

He looked at me, his expression hard to read. "Hey, I wouldn't have passed this up! Not only that, but it's gonna take more than your snarky friend to keep me away from you," he said, bumping his shoulder against mine playfully, and I laughed.

I was slowly finding myself slipping back into a comfortable atmosphere with him, having a good time and talking about everything and nothing at the same time. It made me happy.

The wind kicked up a bit, and I involuntarily shivered, a cold chill running through my body. I laughed, rubbing my arms a bit.

"Should've brought a jacket," I said, smiling and crossing my arms to give me a little more warmth.

At this, lo and behold, my friend's romantic predictions came true. Before I could even say anything, Beej had taken off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. I was immediately warmer. I glanced at him, taking note of the slight pink creeping in at the very tips of his hair.

"Beej you don't have to-"

"It's fine, you need it more than me. I'm hot-natured, anyway."

I knew that wasn't true, because the dude was always cold as ice. Although, now that I think about it, that probably had more to do with the fact that he was dead than the fact that he wasn't hot-natured. Anyway, I thanked him and drew the jacket around me tighter, welcoming the warmth and shield from the wind.

We were getting closer to the front of the line, but still had a ways to go. So I decided to strike up a different, more personal conversation. I turned to the demon standing beside me.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

He glanced at me. "Of course."

"What do you think of me?" I could tell that question had taken him aback, a little bit. I could also see that he was trying to choose his words carefully, so I sighed and said: "And I need you to be completely honest with me."

He looked back ahead, thinking for a minute. And that made me a tiny bit nervous. But then he finally spoke after what felt like an eternity.

"Honestly? You're my best friend, and one of the coolest people I've ever met." He looked over at me. "You're also super pretty, and any guy who snags you is going to be the luckiest man alive." He gave me a small, weak smile.

I noticed the slight purple color tinging the tips of his hair.

I smiled back at him, noticing we were almost to the front of the line.

"Okay, what do you think of me?" he asked, raking a hand through his hair to mask the purple color. He crossed his arms and smiled at me, arching an eyebrow.

I looked down at my shoes, wondering how much I should tell him. But I mean, he had been completely honest with me, so I knew it wouldn't be right if I didn't do the same with him. I looked up and saw that there was only one more person in front of us in the line, so I had to make it quick.

"Okay, you're also my best friend and make me super happy whenever you're around, I love spending time with you, and I also think you're super sexy," I rushed to tell him.

And before he could recover from his shock to ask me anything, we were at the front of line, ordering our food. I got us four sandwiches, some drinks, and paid, taking the bag with the food and walking over to a couple of picnic tables to get condiments.

"Okay, what the heck was that?" my companion asked me, walking behind me.

I didn't answer, just simply smiled a small smile and continued to put ketchup packets into the bag. When he couldn't get my attention, he grabbed my arm and spun me to face him, leaving me a tiny bit shocked. I blushed a bit, finding myself that close to him. For the first time, I could smell that he had actually put on some sort of cologne. Wow. He really was trying to impress me.

"(Y/N), what did you mean by all that?"

I could tell by the desperate look in his eye that he was being serious and wanted me to be, as well. I sighed, smiling a bit and placing my hand on top of his that was holding my arm.

"I.. I like you, Beej. A lot."

"Like.... As more than a friend?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah. As more than a friend."

"And you're not just messing with me?"

I shook my head. "I would never do that to you, Beetlejuice." I pulled my arm out of his light grip and wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him close. "I care too much about you to play with your emotions like that."

I felt his arms slowly, hesitantly, wrap around my waist, as if he thought I might vanish into a memory if he moved too quickly or hugged too tightly. I smiled a small smile, feeling content and safe with him right here with me.

I pulled back, smiling at him. "Come on, we should probably go eat our food before it gets cold," I told him.

He smiled and nodded. "Probably."

I picked up the bag in one hand, he picked up the drink tray, and I used my free hand to grab his, fighting to keep a normal complexion. I had been blushing all evening, I wanted to be a color other than red for a little while.

And with that, we made our way back toward the stage area to find Adler and Maddison, the air around us seeming to buzz with the electricity of romantic excitement. Things were moving quickly, but I had a feeling that we were trying to make up for lost time. Because in all honesty, we should've had this conversation a long time ago.

Ah well, better late than never.