Chapter Text
There was simply no logic behind it, no beginning or an end. It was as if one day she woke up and all of the sudden her body just craved touch. Even more unfortunate was that it wasn’t just any touch, no. Wednesday Addams had woken up one day to find her whole being set aflame by the thought of being in close proximity with Enid Sinclair. The thought of the werewolf’s hands grazing against her skin was the best, and worst, kind of torture her brain had imagined in a long while.
If she were to be honest, there was a beginning. Still, there was no logic as to why that damned hug was the match that started the fire. The fire being the sweet torturous presence of Enid Sinclair always being within reach, but never being able to vocalize how much her body ached for another hug.
Wednesday refused to be this walking cliché, she would never hear the end of it from her parents if they were to find out how much her entire being longed for Enid’s touch. So she was determined to go against her body’s desires. Romance and intimacy had never been anywhere near her top list of matters to pursue in life, and she wasn’t going to start now. Especially not for a walking rainbow named Enid Sinclair.
“Hi roomie!”
Speak of the devil.
Enid would make the most beautiful devil, and I would burn in hell just to be in her mere presence, Wednesday frowned as she caught her train of thought and stopped it before her traitorous mind could think any more.
“Hello Thing," Enid kept talking as if her greeting hadn’t just gone ignored as she approached Wednesday who was sitting in front of her desk while Thing was flipping through a magazine on her bed, “So you would not believe what Yoko just told me! Apparently, she heard from Divina who heard from Xavier who heard from Ajax that there’s a new transfer student that arrived today! Everyone who’s seen him says he’s a total hottie. Bianca’s already been seen walking around with him, figures.”
“Interesting," Wednesday said in a monotone voice. If she was being honest, she was trying her best not to look at Enid. Ever since that damned morning of her revelation, she felt out of control, but she was doing her best to reclaim it. She noticed just how much her eyes wandered off to Enid whenever they were in the same room. As more days passed by, it was getting harder not to fall into the temptation of constantly staring at her roommate’s face from even across the classroom. Not that you could fault her for that. If the class lesson being presented was below her threshold of interest, why wouldn’t she do the alternative and instead take note of how the light bounced off Enid's dyed hair? It was even more difficult to disregard all her thoughts surrounding her hands holding Enid’s. Her arm being hugged by the other girl as they walked. The other girl’s cheeks caressed by her own hands as she gave into these cursed emotions. This was simply unbecoming of her.
She could feel the warmth from Enid’s body as the other girl walked closer, her stomach almost pressing against the back of the chair that Wednesday sat in. It took all of her willpower not to lean back. It took even more willpower not to try and inhale that flowery scent that Enid seemed to wear like a second skin these days.
“Mhmm, you know it’s been really boring around here lately. The new guy is just what I needed for my gossip blog! Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad there isn’t a new monster lurking around, but I need new fodder and all," Enid slightly smiled as she brushed her shoulder against Wednesday to look down at the paper that was sitting on the desk. Just as she was about to comment on the completion of an assignment that wasn’t due for another week, Wednesday finally decided to grace her with a sentence.
“Are you aware that there’s such a thing as a personal bubble?” the girl asked as she straightened her body and slightly leaned away, “Enid, you are too close for comfort”
She was a liar, but she was proud of her voice holding steady as Enid stepped away. Her hands twitched in her lap and she forced herself to stand up to step away from the desk to increase the distance between the two of them even more. Turning her back towards her friend, Wednesday busied herself by gathering her homework from the desk and putting it inside her backpack. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thing trying to rapidly sign something at her but she ignored him.
Unbeknownst to Wednesday, Enid’s excited face had slightly dimmed as she went along with the request. They had made strides in their friendship, but lately Enid didn’t understand why Wednesday felt as if she was reverting back to the beginning when the girl refused even the acknowledgement that they had become close friends. Ever since The Hug, Enid had secretly held onto hope that she would be able to do that a lot more in the future. Her hopes never came to fruition, but it was okay because Wednesday opened up to her more and actually made her feel as if her presence was wanted. However, in the more recent weeks it felt like they kept taking ten steps forward and ten steps back. It was confusing for the werewolf.
“Oh, yeah sorry… I got caught up in my excitement, but wow you already finished the essay huh? I wish I could do it as easily as you do," Enid remarked while she stood back and watched Wednesday gather her things.
“Maybe if you weren’t a slave to technology you would be able to accomplish half of what I do.”
“And miss out on all the gossip? No thanks. Besides, I know you’d be even more bored if I weren’t able to provide you with new info”, Enid merely smiled as Wednesday turned around with a slight scowl on her face.
“You know I do not care for these useless rumors you seem to enjoy. What’s the use of knowing who broke up with whom if it doesn’t involve a literal heart being broken as a result of murder? I only listen because you want to speak to me about it,” Wednesday replied.
Enid couldn’t help it, her smile widened as she tried to hold back a giddy giggle from escaping her mouth. This was the kind of thing she had come to anticipate (and maybe sometimes went out of her way to receive) post-The Hug, when Wednesday would slip and admit that she tolerated things she usually disliked just because Enid was involved.
For her part, Wednesday internally smacked her brain for letting such words slip past her mouth. She needed to be careful. Whenever this happened her mind kept planting seeds that such words coming from her were welcomed by Enid. Even worse, there were moments that she felt encouraged to take it a step further and initiate physical contact with Enid. Another frown formed on Wednesday’s face, and she couldn’t be more grateful that her back was turned towards her roommate.
Enid, who decided she didn’t want to push Wednesday’s comfort level even more by commenting on what she said, reeled the conversation back to her original topic, “Anyways, want to sit with us at lunch? Maybe Bianca will bring the new guy around.”
When they both arrived at their designated lunch table, it became obvious that Bianca did not bring the new guy with her.
“So, where’s the new guy?” Surprisingly it wasn’t Enid that brought it up, it was her ex-boyfriend Ajax who coincidentally reached the lunch spot at the same time as the two girls.
“I thought he would still be with you Bianca,” Enid chimed in as she and Wednesday settled into sitting down next to each other at the table.
There were a few inches between their bodies, Wednesday had noticed. Just as she had noticed how they walked to lunch with a good half a foot in between their legs. It frustrated her to have started noticing these things.
“I was only with him because I was asked to. Don’t get me wrong, he's attractive, but he was just so boring.”
“Aww but I wanted to ask him for an interview for my blog! You know the gossip circle has been dry," Enid exclaimed, “Besides wouldn’t it be fun to welcome a new person into our group? It’s been a while since Wednesday joined us.”
“I did not join anything, I merely chose to grace you all with my presence at Enid’s request. You’re better off not dragging anyone else into this circle. I refuse to tolerate someone new especially if they have no personality. I already spend entirely too much energy showing interest in our present company”
Enid turned her face towards her side and pouted at Wednesday who refused to meet the other girl’s eyes and kept hers focused on the food set before her.
“Yeah yeah Addams, just admit that you like us already”
Wednesday raised her head up to look at Yoko and glared at her for her comment. Meanwhile Enid was smiling beside her and nodded her head at Yoko, mouthing the words “She totally does.”
“Wow, you two really are black cat and a golden retriever personified. You know, one of those shipping tropes people talk about… how cute” Bianca teasingly commented while smirking at the Addams girl.
Wednesday tried hard to not let the scowl show on her face, she would not give Bianca the satisfaction of knowing that she’d gotten to her. This was exactly the kind of cliche she didn’t want to be. She wasn’t exactly sure what a shipping trope was, but she figured out the implication behind the words. Besides, she refused to be cute.
Ajax butted in, “Hah as if these two would ever last a day being together. Addams hates being touched. On the other hand, Enid likes being touched and can get so touchy sometimes, I mean I would know…” He trailed off with a small smirk on his face.
Wednesday had never wanted to peel the skin off anyone’s face as much as she did in that moment. Subconsciously clenching her fists underneath the table, she almost stood up to wipe that smirk off Ajax’s face until she felt something soft wrap around her hand. Enid’s fingers, she thought as she distractedly looked down at their connected skin hidden away from the view of the others. Her heart thudded and she almost wanted to pray to whichever god would listen that no one could hear the rapid change of rhythm in her heartbeat. Enid had somehow sensed her incoming rage and managed to quell it within seconds by a mere touch. Wednesday didn’t know how to feel other than the warmth that spread from her relaxing fists to the rest of her body.
“Yo Ajax, chill man. That’s not cool." Xavier glared at the other boy who looked sheepish.
“Ajax, could I speak to you in private?” Enid asked with irritation laced behind her words.
Inwardly she was excited knowing Enid was going to reprimand the boy but selfishly this annoyed Wednesday for two reasons. One, Enid’s touch left her. Two, following that, Enid extracted her legs from underneath the table as she stood up and crossed her arms while waiting for Ajax to do the same.
As they both left the lunch table, Wednesday stared at Enid’s walking figure getting more distant. She couldn’t help but notice the correlation between Enid being far and the sudden coldness she felt in her hand.
Funny how it was almost a mirror of their positions from that morning. Wednesday was sitting at her desk, this time she was busy with her typewriter, as Enid entered their room and approached her.
“Hey I know you have your writing time, but I wanted to talk about lunch… I’m sorry for touching your hand out of nowhere.”
This made Wednesday stop her typing and she turned around in her seat to face Enid who stood farther than she had that morning.
“You stopped me from causing potentially permanent damage to that stoner’s face. I’m unaware of how you thwarted my plan so quickly, but his implication was disrespectful and I could not let it pass,” Wednesday tried to sound like it was an offhand comment although she wanted to give thanks for saving her the trouble.
Oh it would have been satisfying to feel her fist collide with the gorgon’s nose, but she knew now that nothing would be more satisfying than what she had felt from Enid’s touch. In between now and lunch time after Enid left, Wednesday convinced herself that it was okay to feel maybe some type of joy from what transpired between them. Just let herself have this little moment. She blamed her body for the relief she felt and for the increased torture from knowing what a simple touch could do. What sweet torture it was.
“I know, thanks roomie. We talked about it and Ajax apologized for what he said. Besides, he wishes I was all over him like that. The most we did was basically kiss. Like, I really don’t know what I ever saw in him.”
“Good”
“Good?”
“Yes, that gorgon boy does not deserve to know the warmth of your touch. You came to your senses just in time.”
“He was kinda right though… I’m a touchy person. It kinda sucked cause he wasn’t really sweet or affectionate like I hoped, so I felt like I had to hold myself back.”
I would welcome your touch as readily as I welcome death as long as it meant I get to hold you in my arms, Wednesday frowned as soon as she finished the thought. Get a hold of yourself you fool. This was what happened when she let her guard down and allowed herself to feed into her mind’s delusions.
Enid mistook it as a negative reaction towards what she said so she hurriedly continued talking, “I mean I know you don’t really like touch either which is all good. I guess I can’t really blame him too much. When I really think about it, sometimes I feel weird for wanting physical contact so much”
What she wanted to say was, You are not alone in this sentiment although I cannot stand to be touched by anyone other than you. You bring life to me like no other can do. My body aches for the warmth you provide. I am powerless and yet I am trying my hardest to resist.
Instead what Wednesday said was, “Enid, I believe there is someone out there who will wholeheartedly embrace you completely as you are and return your affections at the level you deserve. Do not let one stoner boy let you doubt your worth.”
This rewarded her with Enid’s smile, and she could do nothing but stare as the girl stepped closer to her and made a motion as if to give her a hug. However, Enid never made the contact as she ended up with her arms up in the air in front of Wednesday who furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
“I know I’ve probably pushed your comfort today, sorry, but I wanted to show you I’m grateful so I’m giving you an air hug.”
With that, Enid walked towards her side of the room not giving Wednesday a chance to respond. Not knowing the disappointment rooted in her Addams heart for not receiving the physical contact, and the disappointment in herself for even craving the hug in the first place.