Chapter Text
Thanks to the alphabetical seating arrangements of this class, Bianca had an up close and personal view of Wednesday nearly braining herself onto the siren’s desk while she had a vision.
The psychic seizure only lasted a few seconds but left the goth gasping for air as soon as she got out of it.
“You good, Addams?” Bianca asked, but Wednesday completely ignored her, instead snapping her focus to the room’s lone wall clock.
“ No...” the ravenette whispered, wide eyes growing impossibly wider, before she leapt out of her seat so fast it bounced against the siren’s desk.
“Addams! Sit down!” The teacher yelled, but the girl was already out the door.
“Wednesday!” Bianca called, running out after her, also to the teacher’s loud annoyance. She made it in time to see the goth turn the corner at the end of the hall and sprinted after her. The siren came close to catching up to Wednesday when the black-clad girl paused at a bisecting hallway and looked every which way frantically, mouth moving like she was muttering to herself.
“Hey!” she tried again, but when the girl’s face turned enough to give her a proper view, Bianca nearly tripped over her own feet. Wednesday took off again in the time it took for her to recover and she had to force her legs to run forward despite the chill of dread creeping down her spine.
Because Wednesday Addams— Miss ‘I’m fighting a magic resurrected pilgrim hellbent on outcast genocide and the most emotion I can summon is mildly pissed off’ —had looked scared.
Absolutely, positively, pick a god and pray levels of terrified.
Bianca shuddered as the dread dripped further down her spine as she pressed on.
What the fuck scares the scariest student in a school full of monsters?!
Please please please please please– Wednesday internally chanted as she bolted through Nevermore’s hallways. Her chest was heaving, her lungs were burning from far more than just the stress of running but she didn’t stop. She could not stop!
–please please please–
Every vision she had had to date concerning the future had come to pass.
–This one? No- lighting’s wrong! Please–
The old man in the truck. Rowan. Eugene.
–pleasepleaseplease–
She hadn’t been able to stop them, hadn’t been able to change them, to save them.
–Just this once– please- Please–
They had all been doomed.
–My hands, my eyes, my life, my soul– take whatever you want!
She rounded another corner, neither knowing nor caring who it was she was praying to, and saw the staircase at its end. The staircase.
–Just let me make it–
She heard a voice she’d grown to know as well as any member of her family from the floor above as her feet pounded up the steps two at a time.
–Let me save her!
Wednesday swung around the landing and looked up just in time to see shoes with horrendously bright laces begin to crest the top step.
–Pleasepleasepleaseplease Please!
Enid wasn’t looking, her gaze on something back over her shoulder. Enid’s foot landed wrong. Enid was tripping. Enid was flailing.
Enid was falling–
The roar in her ears muted everything else as Wednesday’s body met the blonde’s when she pitched past the point of no return. She pulled the girl into her own chest, cradled her head with her black covered arms, and let gravity have its irrefutable way.
The world spun past them, Wednesday felt her head crack against something–
–Then darkness.
Her eyes opened to the now familiar sight of the infirmary ceiling. She had half a second of blissful ignorance before everything came back with a crashing wave of vision–running– Enid!
She rushed to sit up, hissing from the pain that made itself known at various points in her body; most notably her right wrist, back, and head.
“Welcome back,” a voice stated from her side. Wednesday’s head whipped around in spite of the pain to find–
“–Barclay?!” Disappointment was soon overshadowed by an emotion she was slowly starting to hate the taste of; fear.
Where is Enid?!
“Your girl is fine,” Bianca said, calmly lounging in a folding chair, legs crossed politely; had she said that outloud? “The nurse just had to kick her out because she was being ‘too distracting’. I offered to sit with you instead.”
“She’s okay?” Wednesday asked despite the siren having just said as much.
The older girl nodded, “Few bruises but she’ll live–” Bianca's eyes narrowed slightly as the goth flinched, “–Honestly she was way more concerned about your unconscious ass. Wouldn’t stop crying and shaking you.”
Wednesday let out a small sigh but didn’t respond, opting instead to examine the wrap around her wrist; they couldn’t have given me a black one?
“So–” Bianca started, leaning forward in her seat, elbows on her knees, “Wanna talk about it?” The goth froze but didn’t look up.
“Talk about what,” she stated flatly.
“Your vision.” Wednesday didn’t flinch again, but her hands clenched into fists as she met the siren’s gaze head on.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Bullshit.”
In answer Wednesday swung her legs off the side farthest from where the other girl sat, only wobbling slightly as she stood up.
“You can’t leave without the nurse’s say–”
“My right wrist is sprained and wrapped accordingly, I have a balm for the various hematomas developing across my body, and am well versed enough in concussions to know mine is mild at worst,” Wednesday recited as she made her way out of the infirmary, movements only a hair stiffer than normal. “In short, the staff here have done all they can and the rest will simply take time.” Her back twitched as she went to open the door and she added, “And perhaps a bit of stretching.”
“ Stubborn little– Hold up!” Bianca called, chasing after the girl yet again. Wednesday ignored her call and carried on down the blessedly empty hall. The nurses must have forced Enid to return to class–
“Wednesday–”
“I do not require your assist–”
“–What did you see!”
Wednesday froze, the echoes of what she’d seen— what could have occurred —flashing through her mind like lightning through a stormcloud.
She shook it off and continued walking.
“It doesn’t matter–”
“The hell it doesn’t!” Bianca snarled, stomping after the girl, how could someone with such short legs move so fast?! “I saw your face, Wednesday! You looked terrified! You didn’t show a tenth as much emotion when you were facing down fucking Crackstone–” She caught up with the goth and grabbed her left shoulder trying to pull her to a stop. “–So don’t you dare tell me that what you saw doesn’t–”
“It doesn’t matter because it didn’t happen!” Wednesday spun around and yelled in the siren’s face, making her stagger back in shock. “It didn’t! I’m fine! She’s fine! And this?” She held up her wrapped wrist and all but shook it in Bianca’s face. “This is nothing! I would gladly pay this price– and more –a thousand times over if it means that Enid is okay! So it doesn’t matter what I saw because she– she didn’t– she’s not–” Her chest was heaving and Bianca could swear she saw her eyes start to glisten with tears before the younger girl turned away.
“She’s fine,” Wednesday stated, back once again to the siren, “And that is all that matters.”
She began walking away, and Bianca just let her.
Neither of them noticed the figure that had seen the entire thing from the other end of the hall.
Wednesday sat at her desk, slowly expanding and contracting her right hand. By her judgment, it must have hit a corner of a step when... Definitely sprained, possibly some light tearing of a ligament or two.
I’ll have to avoid using it when typing, she mused dourly. Cello playing is definitely off the table for at least a week. Maybe two.
She briefly entertained what the alternative would have been and quickly discarded the thought.
Worth it.
The door to the dormroom opened, and Wednesday spun in her seat to find Enid standing by the door and already looking back at her. She allowed her eyes to rove across the blonde’s body, a tension she refused to acknowledge she had dissolved when she spotted no clear injuries or signs of pain in her roommate.
“You should be in the nurse’s office,” Enid stated in an odd and un-Enidly flat way, closing the door behind her.
“And you should be in class,” Wednesday shot back.
Enid shrugged but didn’t answer, opting instead to simply stand there, hands grasped in front of her. Just, staring at Wednesday.
It was surprisingly unnerving. So that’s what that feels like.
“Do you need something?” Wednesday asked, the awkward silence finally breaking her.
“Can I ask what you saw?” Enid said, face calm even as her hands clenched tighter.
The goth stiffened, before gritting out a “No,” and turning back towards her desk.
“Okay.”
“ I said– ...oh,” she half turned her head back, wincing at her impulsive response, “...Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Enid’s voice responded, closer than it had been before. “...Wends?” The goth twitched at the nickname but for once didn’t tell her off for it.
“...Yes, Enid.”
“...Can...Can I hug you?”
Wednesday paused for only a heartbeat before she stood up from her desk— gingerly, she was annoyed to note —and faced the blonde whose strange neutral facade was slowly breaking down before her eyes. The goth raised her arms in answer and Enid wasted no time taking the last step forward and wrapping her shorter friend in a light hug.
A very light hug.
Oddly irked, Wednesday wrapped her own arms around the blonde in a sturdier fashion and growled into her shoulder, “I am injured, not fragile, Enid; and I know for an unfortunate fact that you can hug harder than this. So if you don’t quit with this half-assed attempt right this second, so help me I’ll–” The rest of the air in her lungs was squeezed out as Enid fully committed and tightened her hug so much Wednesday was half concerned she would have even more bruises than she already did.
She found that she didn’t mind all that much, her own arms increasing their hold on the taller girl, sprained wrist be damned. However Wednesday soon realized she had made a terrible mistake in accepting the hug at all.
Because in doing so she was forced to acknowledge what she had almost lost. The hands grasping at the back of her jacket, the arms encasing her without making her feel trapped, the shoulder she willingly buried herself in–
–And the all encompassing feeling of warmth she felt above it all.
She almost lost this.
Lost Enid.
Wednesday felt her eyes start to burn, her throat begin to stiffen and close. Against her will her vision came back to the forefront of her mind.
Enid’s shrill scream, the crack of bones breaking in her arm, her ribs, her neck. Blue eyes stared at the ceiling, devoid of any spark, any life, any Enid. No more smiles, no more dancing to music, no more–
No! No don’t you dare, she threatened herself as her breath began to catch. Stop it! It’s fine– she’s fine! You’re holding her aren't you?! You can feel her breathing, her heart beat, smell her damn perfume! She’s fine, she’s okay so don’t you dare. Start. Crying!
The goth’s breath stuttered and for a moment she contemplated letting go, of getting away, of not letting the wolf see; but she dismissed the thought just as quickly and held on even tighter. Wednesday felt the world begin to tremble, and with a small gasp realized that not only was she shaking, but so was Enid.
The wolf impossibly increased her hold on the smaller girl, and Wednesday could tell Enid had begun crying by how humid her breath was on the side of her neck as she whispered–
“Thank you”
And Wednesday broke.
What started as shaking soon turned into gasping sobs that she could feel reverberate and echo through the body she held and was held by so fiercely. Burning tears were only kept from streaming down her cheeks by the fact that she had them pressed so tightly against Enid’s shoulder and neck.
She hated this. Hated showing so much useless emotion. Hated feeling so weak.
But she couldn’t stop; her body betrayed her and refused to listen.
She was trapped in a torrent of emotions: fear, relief, grief, sorrow, and something else she could not— did not —want to name. A raging river that she stood no chance of swimming out of on her own.
All she could do was stay afloat, and pray the waters would calm before she drowned.
When the world once again allowed itself to be known, Wednesday shifted her face out of Enid’s now very damp shoulder to find that their room looked taller than it had before. It took her an embarrassingly long few seconds to realize that the change of perspective was due to the fact that the pair of them were somehow on the floor. The wolf was sat cross legged and the goth was sitting sideways in her lap.
Will the mortifications not cease today? Wednesday thought petulantly, though she made no move to remove herself from the situation she found herself in. As more of her senses returned she became aware that the two of them were rocking gently back and forth, though she couldn’t pinpoint which of them was doing the action. Enid’s arms were as tight around her as ever but her hands had relaxed enough for the wolf to slowly rub them against Wednesday’s back in a motion the goth found surprisingly soothing.
“Hey,” the blonde murmured, having noticed that her roommate was fully aware again.
Wednesday’s response was to groan and bury her head back into Enid’s shoulder, uncaring of how damp it still was. She’d just cried. In front of someone. In front of Enid.
How embarrassing. ...I wonder if I can make it off the balcony before she can stop me...
“Guess we’re even now, huh?” Enid mumbled, cutting off the smaller girl’s train of thought.
“Hm?” Wednesday hummed, feeling more than seeing the wolf lightly shrug.
“I saved your life. You saved mine,” she explained in a calm but wet voice, “We’re even.”
Wednesday gripped had slackened at some point without her noticing because she felt it tightened at those oh so casual words.
Enid knew.
Not the details, not the specifics, but she knew. How–
“I uh...I kinda saw you, you know, blow up at Bianca in the hallway,” Enid said sheepishly. “After that...it was easy enough to guess.”
Wednesday groaned again, a little longer this time, forehead plonking against her shoulder once more. My concussion must be worse than I thought if I failed to notice her. She was mildly miffed to feel the body around and beneath her jerk slightly in what could have only been the blonde huffing out a small laugh at her expense.
“Sorry– sorry,” she could feel the blonde grin, “That was just...really cute.”
“I am not cute. Take it back.” Wednesday grumbled. Her words would have been slightly more effective if she had taken her face out of Enid’s shoulder, but at this point she was resigned to simply residing there for the rest of eternity.
She found the idea oddly pleasant.
In a bid to distract the wolf— and also herself —she asked, “Why are we on the floor?”
“I dunno; gravity?”
Wednesday smacked Enid’s back with her good hand and the blonde dared to laugh at her again. Cheeky wolf.
“Do you want to get off the floor?”
“...Yes,” she mumbled, though she found the mere thought of relinquishing her grip on the wolf repugnant– why is she in the air?!
In the midst of her train of thought, Enid had slid one arm beneath Wednesday’s legs and, with the other supporting her back, simply stood straight up from the floor. The goth’s grip tightened around the blonde’s neck reflexively even though Enid didn’t let her slip so much as an inch. Once she was fully standing, Enid gingerly lowered the arm bearing Wednesday’s legs until they could touch the floor again, allowing the smaller girl to stand under her own power again.
“There we go,” Enid said softly once Wednesday could stand steadily. The ravenette finally unwound her arms from around her shoulders, turning to face away from the blonde as they disentangled.
“Thanks,” she mumbled; her cheeks felt hot enough to light a stick of dynamite. Apparently the universe has it out for me today. Oh joy.
She flinched slightly, scaring away the fingers that had unexpectedly grazed her right wrist.
“How’s your wrist?” the wolf called gently, and Wednesday found her arm stretching backwards; a silent go-ahead that Enid tentatively accepted, her hand once again lightly skimming the soft brace.
“Just a sprain; I’m...I’ll be okay.”
There was a few beats of silent stroking before she heard Enid draw a breath and–
“If the next words out of your mouth are another apology, I will set your plushies on fire,” Wednesday growled, cutting the blonde off.
“...You’re hurt because of me–”
“No. I am hurt because of my own actions,” she turned back to the wolf, blushing cheeks be damned, “–Actions that I would gladly do again if necessary.”
Enid’s eyes were red and glittering with tears eager to join those that had already blazed trails down her face. Wednesday clenched her fist just to fight the urge she had to take that last step needed to gently wipe them away.
“Why,” Enid asked, so quiet the goth read her lips more than heard it. Even still she heard all the words that the wolf didn’t say. Why would you do that? Why me?
“Because...” Wednesday swallowed hard, trying to find the words that usually flowed from her so easily. With a hand she refused to acknowledge was trembling, she reached across the gap between them and gently curled her fingers around Enid’s.
“...Because you were right,” she eventually stated, too raw to look the blonde in the eye. “We work. We shouldn’t–”
“–But we do,” Enid finished with a wet smile; her hand welcomed Wednesday’s without hesitation.
Wednesday stared at their hands; pale with black polish intertwined with even paler and pastel.
She squeezed and Enid squeezed back.
“...I’m tired...” Wednesday murmured; so many emotions in such a short amount of time, how did people live like this?
“Same,” Enid chuckled, “Crying tends to do that. Nap?”
The goth hummed an affirmative and then took her own turn in surprising the blonde. Rather than release her grip, she tightened it, gently tugging the wolf further into her side of the room. Enid fumbled for only a moment before accepting the silent call.
They let go only to remove their jackets and shoes; Wednesday crawled under the covers first and Enid gingerly followed after.
Neither of them acknowledged that it wasn’t even lunch time yet and doubtless someone was bound to come looking for them eventually.
They laid facing each other; eyes not quite meeting— close but not quite touching —until a pastel painted hand breached from beneath the covers to linger near the ravenette’s cheek. At an almost imperceptible nod, the hand made contact; softly wiping at the few lingering tears on Wednesday’s face before cupping her jaw.
Another hand emerged soon after, carefully slotting itself under a jaw and pink-tinged hair; resting on a spot of the neck where the pulse could dance beneath unsteady fingers.
Enid looked at Wednesday.
Wednesday looked at Enid.
A thousand words floated silently through the air between them. Too many emotions to name flickered through eyes both blue and black alike; all culminating in the same line of thought.
You’re here. You’re alive. And that is enough.
Eyelids floated shut and heads bowed until foreheads grazed one another.
Later they would talk. This was all they needed.
For now.