Chapter Text
Wednesday was in purgatory.
Purgatory in the form of her disgustingly colorful roommate, Enid Sinclair, drawing incessant little pink hearts on her perfectly nice black wrist cast. Just about three months ago, Wednesday had gotten herself into a fight with Enid’s ex-crush, Ajax. She had gotten stoned, which was actually a pleasant experience. She enjoyed not having to listen to anyone about anything.
However, the experience had left her with a pretty nasty broken wrist, which was how she had gotten herself in this predicament. Enid was humming, trying to doodle on the cast, but Wednesday kept tapping her fingers, messing up the girl’s drawing.
“Willa!” Enid’s whine cut through her thoughts, “stop moving! I’ve seen you be stiller than the dead before!” Wednesday gave a slight smirk- ew- she chided herself internally for the positive response. However, the agitated reaction from the other girl was always satisfactory, considering Wednesday knew exactly how to get a rise out of Enid. Wednesday slowly moved her arm back and forth to try and derail the sinister plot to make her cast look colourful, finding that she liked the motion and continuing to do it.
“Just give in. I’ll do it in your sleep if you won’t let me do it now,” Enid said, waving the pink sharpie in her face. Wednesday recoiled,
“I’m forced to wear this arm prison-”
“-Cast.”
“I’m forced to wear this cast, and that’s bad enough. Now you insist on using permanent marker to make the situation all the more worse,” she threw her arm back as Enid reached for it again. Enid sighed, putting the cap back on the sharpie,
“To be fair, the only reason you’re still stuck in that thing is because you won’t take a break for like, a minute. So now it's extended.”
“That’s irrelevant,” Wednesday muttered, glaring as Enid reached for another pink sharpie, a different shade. How many shades of pink were there? She didn’t want to know the answer. Thing vibrated angrily from the desk, diverting Enid’s attention. Now was the time to escape. Wednesday hurried to the door as Enid let Thing climb onto her shoulder.
“WEDNESDAY!” Enid exclaimed, dragging the girl back to her desk. “I feel like a- a fucking babysitter sometimes, with the two of you!”
Wednesday knitted her eyebrows, glaring at her roommate, “now you know how I feel every day with you.”
“Occasionally running after a squirrel is NOT-” she gave a huff, tugging Thing away from the door- “-equivalent to handling a teenager with an interest in criminal activity and a dismembered hand who wants to murder Ajax!” Thing angrily tapped a message with a lot more unsavory words than necessary, most directed at the gorgon boy in question. Ever since he had broken Wednesday’s wrist, Thing had taken it like the death of a family member as a hand himself and was out for cold blood (no pun intended, with Ajax having snakes for hair and all).
“I’m going outside,” Wednesday said from in front of the window, Enid groaning and stroking her fingers down Thing to calm him,
“No, you’re not!”
“Wow, I’m already out the window.”
“Wednesday Friday Addams.”
Wednesday climbed back inside of their room reluctantly, her hair in disarray from the comforting motion of repeatedly tugging on it. The shorter girl was constantly bored out of her mind without an opportunity to stalk someone or dart into the woods. Enid rolled her eyes fondly, waving her over to her desk. She raised a hand with a brush, silently asking permission from Wednesday to start physical contact again. The shorter girl stared at her, before turning around as an unspoken allowing of the activity. Enid gave a grin, tilting her head and picking up one of Wednesday's braids. She gently untied her hair from the woven style, brushing through it.
Wednesday let her touch her now. It was new, but a good kind of new. They weren’t anywhere near a hugging status, but that was alright. Enid finished with the long, thick black hair after a few minutes and tied it into braids again. Thing was now at the window, pressing his palm against the colorful glass in longing.
“Thing!” Enid ran over and scooped him up, turning after only a second around to see Wednesday now at the door, suspicious paper in hand. “Alright, that’s it,” Enid grabbed a stack of papers from Wednesday’s desk and three different types of nail-polish from her drawer. She thought for a minute, then started sketching a crudely-made crossword puzzle, aware of Wednesday’s eyes trained on her pencil. Enid turned around once it was done, handing it over, “here. Solve this.” Wednesday took it and went to her desk. Enid smiled. They were all pop culture questions. But Wednesday couldn’t resist a challenge- even one she would be hopeless at. Enid patted her own desk, “Thing, come on, let me do your nails.” Thing paused his enraged vibrating for a moment, slowly creeping up her leg, onto her chair, and finally flopping himself down on her desk.
Enid gave a smug incline of her head, proud of the fact she had managed to wrangle the disaster duo.
Wednesday was silent, which was not abnormal at all, and Thing was instructing Enid on the manicure he wanted very carefully, slowly tapping out Morse code, so she wouldn't get confused. Enid exhaled, "I can try that, but I can't promise it'll be perfect." She got everything she needed prepared. Wednesday finally spoke, glancing up from her crossword puzzle,
"Don't be worried, Enid. I'm certain your choice of color palette on said nails will be so bright that anyone looking to find flaws will have their retinas irreversibly destroyed, and they'll be unable to find any."
Enid grimaced at the attempt at comfort from her roommate, “thanks, Willa." Wednesday gave an eyebrow raise, then focused back on the paper. Enid watched the girl, eyes almost embarrassingly fixated on her movements. Wednesday scrunched her nose up slightly, widening her eyes at the activity. "Enid," she said slowly, looking up with a puzzled expression. "What is a 'warrior cat'? Is it a cat that engages in combat? Why are you mentioning murderous felines in my activity?"
Enid sucked in a laugh, "don't worry about it."
Wednesday frowned, then continued to try and solve the crossword. Enid started painting Thing's nails, smiling at the familiar smell of nail polish. Thing tapped his fingers when she lifted her hand to dip the brush back in, offering a teasing message regarding Wednesday. The blonde girl scoffed playfully, making a remark about how she'd set up mouse traps for his fingers to get caught in if he continued.
Wednesday, who had been watching, felt her heart skip a beat at the expression of violence, then sharply fixed her glare back to the puzzle.
Stupid heart.
She looked back up after a minute, though. Her eyes always wandered over to Enid. Mostly because Enid was a brightly flashing hazard to one's vision. But sometimes, for other reasons. When she truly, genuinely smiled, not like the fake one she often plastered on her face. When she danced without a thought to Wednesday’s gaze. When she was just Enid. The opposite of everything Wednesday had ever known.
Enid looked back. She couldn’t help but look at Wednesday. Mostly because Wednesday was constantly one step away from disaster. But also because she was her- friend. She was definitely different from the others. Not in a bad way. She was brave and intelligent, and unlike anyone else Enid had ever met. And she was- god, she was so beautiful. Enid walked over to Wednesday, who abruptly looked back down at the crossword puzzle again. But then she looked up.
And she was gorgeous. Enid was easily influenced by her adolescent brain. Wednesday, not as much. But even she wasn’t immune to youthful hormones.
Wednesday's eyes were rounded, her eyebrows knitted, "Enid." She stated, "your puzzle is quite challenging. Kudos."
Normally, Enid would have nearly glowed at the praise. The girl in question, however, was transfixed with the other's face. She clenched her hands, digging her nails into her palm. Wednesday raised an eyebrow, and then noticed where Enid's gaze was locked. Not Wednesday's eyes…below. Her lips.
Oh.
Oh.
Well. She wasn’t necessarily opposed to Enid’s face drawing closer and closer. She indulged the slight curiosity that was always present, staying perfectly still. There was probably a point where she was supposed to move.
She realized that once Enid’s forehead bumped against hers, halfway to a kiss.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Enid said, taking a few very large steps back. Wednesday rubbed her forehead. It hadn’t been a very hard bump. She didn’t have to worry about Enid being concussed. Again. “So, uh, how much of the puzzle do you have done?” Enid asked, her speech rapid in changing the subject. Wednesday held up said crossword puzzle, Enid reading the answers with a chuckle,
“I’m pretty sure James Madison didn’t voice Elsa in Frozen. That doesn’t even fit with the spaces. And ‘a witch’ doesn’t solve the rest of them either.”
“Only a truly brave witch would subject herself to the horrors of television,” Wednesday replied, Enid rolling her eyes,
“Oh my god, you’re missing out on so much - here, let me add in some questions you can answer,” she took the puzzle and started adding to it, so focused on it that she didn’t notice when Wednesday wandered from her side. At least, not until Thing tapped her shoulder, “just a minute, Thing - Wednesday!” she exclaimed, “what the hell?!” The girl in question was at the doorway once more. She put the puzzle aside, Thing crawling into a drawer after Wednesday shot him a glare. A death glare, to be precise. “Why do you insist on being so stubborn?!” She said.
“Why do you insist on being so overbearing?” Wednesday replied, taking the updated crossword puzzle.
“Wednesday, that’s not true and you know it, you -” She gritted her teeth as Wednesday turned back towards the door, then tackled her onto the bed. The other girl wouldn’t be injured, of course, the impact was too controlled and the bed too soft. However, it was a strange reminder that in the absence of knives and tricks, when it came down to pure physical strength, Enid was vastly superior.
Wednesday smiled up at her. Enid shivered.
“Stay -” she huffed, having exerted herself in the process of it “- put.” She squinted at the Raven, who squinted back. Enid frowned at her. “I’m not thinking any kind words about you right now, just so ya know.”
Wednesday tried to ignore how nice Enid’s weight on top of her felt. Her touch didn’t burn like it did when her fellow classmates (rarely) touched her. She didn’t blush, that would be idiotic, but she did feel a slight warmth in her stomach. “I would expect nothing less,” she said.
Enid let out the longest sigh she had ever heard, “has anyone ever told you that you are very, very, VERY,” she accentuated the third ‘very’ with placing more pressure on Wednesday’s arms, “exhausting to deal with?”
Wednesday’s eyes widened owlishly. “Now Enid, you can do better than that.”
“Bitch.”
“There you go.”
“I haaate you.”
“Finally, something half decent out of your mouth. Keep practicing and you might be able to tactfully insult someone one day.” Enid let out a quiet sigh as Wednesday settled down again, acting like nothing had happened. Maybe she wished nothing had. Maybe Enid had screwed things up forever and now Wednesday thought she was a creep, or a joke. And Wednesday was not into creeps. So. Enid would just avoid Wednesday until they died! Cool, cool, cool. Clearly, this was the only logical solution.
Enid made sure to stay out of the other girl’s way for the next few days, to save her the effort. Whenever Wednesday walked into the room, Enid quickly found a reason to dart out. She was willing to remove herself from Wednesday’s life. Enid loved her, after all. She’d do anything for her.
Enid came back from her last class a few nights later. The last thing she expected to see was Wednesday, sitting calmly on her bed. The other girl was usually off doing… something, until midnight. Enid didn’t ask unless she directly brought it up. It usually resulted in Wednesday coming back with blood on her hands, and Enid had learned not to question it. She really didn’t want to know.
“Enid,” Wednesday said, standing up.
“Oh, hey, Willa, I just forgot, Yoko invited me to-” She stopped as Wednesday walked over, standing only inches away from her. Her eyes were solemn as always. But she was- nervously? -fidgeting with her hands. That was very new,
“Enid. Stop. I know I’m not the most emotionally attuned person at Nevermore. I am probably the least emotionally attuned person in the general area at all times. But I do know you have been avoiding me. Why? Did I do something? Are you still angry about the dissection of the baby rabbit?”
“-Wait, you dissected a baby bunny? - Wednesday!” Enid exclaimed. Wednesday took another step closer. Enid felt Wednesday’s cool breath on her lips, causing her to subconsciously run her tongue over them. They were close enough to kiss, just like they had failed at doing before.
“In my defense, it was already dead. I can’t remember offending you in any way… perhaps there’s something I don’t recall?” Wednesday’s voice was quiet, her eyes trained on her shoes.
“Nope! Everything’s fine! Peachy, even. A-okay,” Enid said, shooting her the most awkward and unnecessary finger-guns in the history of the world and underworld. She hoped the short girl didn’t notice the cold sweat Enid was breaking into, or the way her heartbeat sped up because Enid was definitely recalling the forehead-bumping incident.
“You’re lying,” Wednesday scowled, the werewolf letting out a crisp, nervous laugh that cut through the air.
“Whaaaat?” Enid rolled her eyes, “no I’m not. I’ve just been…busy.” Yeah. Busy avoiding her.
“I know you are lying,” The black-haired girl pointed at Enid’s hands, where her clenched fingers were digging into her palms. Wednesday’s eyes flickered with a hint of interest at the blood running down her fingers, and then it was quickly clouded by something else, “your tell is quite easy to read,” she tilted up her head, and then- oh god. Their noses were brushing each other, and Enid felt like she would rather die than convince herself this was real. She lowered her voice to a whisper, as she knew anything louder would shatter the moment, burst their little bubble.
“I’m not, Willa,” the nickname rolled from her tongue, soft and familiar and warm and Wednesday hated how warm it was. “I’m just busy. I promise.”
Maybe if they were any other two people. Maybe if Enid was Xavier, maybe if the two hadn’t been standing so fucking close, maybe if there was anything coursing through the air between them that wasn’t untold secrets and hasty lies and repressed feelings, maybe if Wednesday couldn’t feel Enid’s words on her lips, and maybe if they hadn’t tasted so warm.
Maybe if it was any other person, Wednesday would push for details and wring the unapologetic truth out from them. But it wasn’t. It was Enid, and it was so frustratingly Enid that Wednesday would have murdered a hundred baby rabbits if the girl had asked her to.
So she dulled her expression, and nodded slightly. The action almost caused their noses to brush.
“I trust you, Enid.” Wednesday said softly, in opposite to everything Enid had ever known. Wednesday Addams was not soft, and she was definitely not trusting. But with the look Wednesday had in her eyes, the silent promise in those dark irises, Enid wouldn’t have believed anyone could look at her like that. Especially not Wednesday Addams.
“Anytime,” Enid said, forcing her eyes to stay connected to Wednesday’s instead of darting down and ruining everything, like she had ruined everything before.
Wednesday’s eyes searched her face carefully, like a detective studying a piece of evidence. As if Enid was an answer she couldn’t find, a pop culture puzzle that she couldn’t figure out.
“Okay.” Her response was short and quiet, and Wednesday had to stop herself before she did anything stupid and succumbed to any impulses running through her mind. The braided girl stepped back, and their little bubble was broken. The cold, mute look took over her face once again, and Wednesday spoke more clearly, more assertively. Like she was sure of herself, as always. Like the world was Wednesday’s and everybody else was just living in it, like Wednesday was the commanding officer of an army, “I am starting my writing time now.” She glanced towards the clock as it ticked to 8 o’clock, and then promptly spun on her heel and retreated back to her side of the room. She pulled out her chair, sat down, and let her fingers fly across the keys. A steady clicking noise emanated, and usually Enid would have been playing on her phone or texting Yoko or doing some other useless activity.
Instead, Enid grabbed her biggest pillow, buried her face in it, and screamed as loud as possible in frustration. A werewolf’s scream was not a pleasant thing to hear, and Wednesday usually loved screams. She turned around in her chair, frowning at the blonde girl.
“Enid, normally I enjoy screams of agony. Yours is disturbing me, however, so tell me what’s wrong,” she thought for a moment, and then added, “please.” Enid looked up from the pillow, colored streaks of hair falling into her face. Wednesday pushed away the thought of how much she’d like to touch that, and chalked it up to curiosity of texture. The werewolf’s eye twitched, and Wednesday had to resist an upward quirk of her lips at how frustrated Enid looked.
“I’m just- I don’t know!” Enid confessed, falling back onto her bed and hugging a round stuffed animal to her chest. “I thought I ruined everything, ya know? Like,” she motioned vaguely to the air. “I mean, we almost- we almost kissed, unless I’m reading that wrong. But I’m pretty sure I’m not! And yeah, we missed it and almost concussed each other, but I thought that would warrant some sort of mention, maybe? And you haven’t talked about it, so I just kinda assumed everything was over and we can’t be friends anymore and we’re back to square one of you hating me and so I avoided you because of that and I-I don’t understand why it had to be you!” She finished, panting for a breath before continuing, much quieter this time. “I don’t understand why it had to be you. ” Enid looked so crestfallen Wednesday wanted to kill whoever had done it, and then realized suicide would not be an amicable option. Enid’s eyes were clouded over with something longing, something that could’ve been. And Wednesday would bet her left hand that “something” had a name, and it was Ajax.
“I just don’t wanna ruin our friendship,” Enid’s voice was down to a defeated whisper. “I already am trying to come to terms with the fact that I’m a,” she hesitated, not sure if she was ready to use that word. “That I’m a lesbian. And I just, I don’t know. Maybe I thought something would change, but it didn’t, and now I’ve just fucked up everything for no reason.” Wednesday could pinpoint the shame in Enid’s eyes, the shame because in her mind she had committed sin. Wednesday rose from her chair, stepping over and touching the side of Enid’s face carefully, as if she was something made of precious stones and glass. Something valuable. Something that suggested Enid wasn’t just a confused teenager who had committed the unthinkable action of loving a girl . Enid exhaled, studying her shoes. “I kinda thought I could take a chance. Be uncertain outside of the life my parents have set for me. But I guess it just- didn’t work out.” her voice trembled, and she couldn’t meet Wednesday’s eyes, because it was all in the open now. Wednesday had Enid’s heart cupped in the palm of her hand, and it was up to the Raven to decide whether or not to dissect it right then and there.
“Enid. You haven’t ruined things. I’m already aware of the fact that you’re a lesbian.”
“How?” Enid mumbled.
“The sweater. And when you leave your laptop open…” Wednesday said, removing her hand from Enid’s cheek. Enid looked away sheepishly. “Everything is alright between us, you’re the closest friend I’ve ever had.” Friend.
Friend.
Friend.
Enid felt her heart sink, as Wednesday stood and went back to writing. And she hadn’t just dissected Enid’s heart. She crushed it.
Well. She had made her feelings painfully clear, for once in her life.
Enid laid down, hair splayed out on her pillow. She bit her lip to stop the emotions from building, and yet all it did was cause her lip to bleed open and fill her mouth with the metallic taste. She took a couple of shaky breaths, making sure to not look at her roommate at all for fear of saying something she would regret. Enid clutched a squishmallow to her chest, feeling her breathing slow as she drifted into sleep.
The next morning, 8am sharp, she sat up as her alarm rang. She felt a heaviness on her chest and looked down.
There was a very large tooth in her lap, polished and dry. It has smooth edges, and was probably about the size of her hand. It looked almost like a saber. She stared at the tooth with her jaw open, trying to guess what the actual hell had occurred.
She looked to her roommate’s side, seeing the girl at her desk. There was no way Wednesday Addams was not behind this. Enid’s eyes narrowed, and she glared daggers at the black-haired girl.
What. The. Fuck.