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Tyler sat down on their bed with a heavy sigh. He unlatched his watch and set it down on the bedside table. His shoulders and neck were so damn tight. He tried some neck circles for a few seconds before giving up on that. The tension had been sitting there for a week now. Stretching wasn’t likely to help anything.
His anxiety was shared by the Hyde. Except the Hyde was yearning to go to the surrounding forest and run as fast as they could until they came upon an unsuspecting deer- or, better yet, a bear. Something that might actually put up a fight. Even for just a second. Something to let instinct take over entirely. Give his thinking mind a fucking break.
In that, Tyler definitely agreed with the Hyde. He needed to stop thinking. He’d spent all week coming up with some of the most humiliating scenarios that could happen at tomorrow’s party.
The bed shifted next to him. Tyler looked up, surprised. He was met with a piercing black gaze. Even after nearly six months of living in the Addams household, Wednesday still managed to sneak up on him.
Tyler’s face quickly moved from surprised to a warm smile. “Hey,” Tyler said.
“What’s wrong?”
Blunt, to the point. That was his Wednesday.
“Nothing, I-” Tyler paused. Wednesday’s gaze shifted slightly to frustration. “Sorry, sorry.” Tyler said, rubbing his face.
“Stop apologizing,” Wednesday said.
Tyler at least managed to not immediately apologize after that. He took in a deep breath. As much as he had been angry with his father for never listening to him talk about his feelings, Tyler was pretty bad at it now that there was someone willing to listen.
“I, uh, I’m just nervous,” Tyler said, looking down at his hands. Wednesday stayed quiet. “About tomorrow,” Tyler added.
There was another pause. “I don’t follow,” Wednesday said, slowly. Tyler looked up and smiled. The whole communication thing was new for both of them. That reassured him a little.
“This will be the first time that I’m, well, around so many outcasts. I mean, I grew up as a Normie, so I didn’t know much about the outcast community.” Now that Tyler started he was almost eager to get the words out. He shifted on the bed, pulling one leg up to turn and face Wednesday head on. He looked at her face and was pleased to have her full attention on him. “You and your family are a big deal in the outcast world. That’s become pretty clear these last few months. Hell, you got me out of containment, put your reputation on a line for me. I just…I don’t want to embarrass you.”
Wednesday’s face was now visibly confused. “How would you embarrass us? That’s ridiculous.”
“I’ve never gone to this type of party-event thing. I don’t even know what I could talk to anybody about. What if I say something stupid or use the wrong fork at dinner or-”
Wednesday’s hand rested gently on his shoulder. Tyler paused and took in a deep breath. He’d been working himself into a panic there. All of it had been plaguing his mind for days. Tyler was neither used to the outcast community nor the upper class. He didn’t know exactly how rich the Addams were but it was far beyond anything he had ever experienced. They had a butler for god sakes. A seemingly undead butler. Tyler wondered if that was more expensive.
He shook his head lightly. That wasn’t a relevant line of thought right now.
He took another deep breath again. “I-I’m worried. I want to make a good impression. I….” Tyler swallowed thickly, breaking eye contact with Wednesday. “I don’t want any of you to regret your decision to take me in.”
“We won’t,” Wednesday said immediately.
“Wednesday-”
“I’m not disregarding your concerns. But I know we won’t. You could lose control, turn into the Hyde, and kill half our guests. Actually, that would make for the most memorable Addam’s event yet.” Wednesday paused, eyes distant. Probably imagining the carnage and chaos. The Hyde purred, relishing in the idea of tasting human flesh again. That’s going to stay a fantasy , Tyler thought to his Hyde. Disappointment flooded through the link but also resignation. At least the Hyde fighting for control was not on his list of worries for tomorrow night.
“Wednesday,” Tyler prompted.
Wednesday blinked and refocused on him. Tyler smirked. His lovely, homicidal girl. So adorable.
“Point is, you’re family. There’s no going back. You’re an Addams till you die. And even after death.”
Tyler nodded halfheartedly. It wasn’t like he thought Wednesday was lying. The gnawing feeling in his chest was just not eased by logic.
Wednesday’s hand moved to cup his cheek. “You’re mine. I’m not interested in anyone else.”
Tyler smiled. He turned his head to kiss her palm. “I’m hardly worried about him .” Xavier was going to spend the entire night glaring holes into him, but Tyler wasn’t concerned about losing Wednesday to him. He’d had the path clear for nearly three years while Tyler was gone and he’d failed spectacularly (Thing had filled him in on some of the more humiliating details).
“Good,” Wednesday said. “And no one else’s opinion matters to me either. Tomorrow is just a party that we will have to endure for two, three hours max.”
Tyler’s smile widened. “Really? I remember someone enjoyed the last dance we went to.” Tyler wrapped his arms around Wednesday’s waist, easily lifting her onto his lap. He snuggled his nose into her neck, breathing in her fresh body wash.
“Well…you were there,” Wednesday said quietly.
Tyler’s heart felt like it could burst. His hold tightened on her and he let them tilt and fall onto the bed. “You’re adorable,” Tyler mumbled into her skin.
Wednesday scoffed. “I could kill you five different ways right now.”
Tyler tightened his hold around her, just over the line of normal human strength. “That just makes you more adorable,” Tyler said.
He kept all his limbs intact so Wednesday must have felt the sentiment appropriate.
Tyler looked himself over in the mirror again. He fussed with his hair, wishing it would be more…manageable. A paper ball hit his head.
“I just-”
Another paper ball.
“But-”
Third one. This one wet, somehow.
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop.” He glared over at Thing who was on the dresser.
“You look great,” Pugsley called out. Tyler turned to look at the younger boy. He was wearing a traditional black suit, already pulling at the neckline uncomfortably.
“Thanks,” Tyler said. “You look nice too. I’m sure you’ll catch a certain someone’s eye.” Pugsley’s cheeks immediately turned a dark scarlet. Tyler tried not to laugh right in his face. Another paper ball hit the back of his head. Tyler turned to glare at the damn hand. He signed a quick ‘like you haven’t said worse to the kid’ while Pugsley couldn’t see. Thing shrugged, shameless.
Pugsley walked by Tyler and grabbed Thing. “See you down there.”
“Yeah, yeah see you,” Tyler said. He leaned back to look in the mirror.
“Thing says if you touch another hair on your head, he’ll shave it all off tomorrow,” Pugsley yelled back. Tyler’s hand stilled mid air and then fell to his side. Best not to risk it when it came to Thing.
Tyler stood directly in front of the mirror and messed with his suit jacket instead. The jacket and pants were a deep red, nearly maroon. The lapels on the jacket were black and he wore a black button up underneath. No tie and top two buttons undone, just as Thing had instructed. It was the most expensive thing he’d ever worn. It was fitted to his exact measurements. He looked good.
Tyler looked at his face in the mirror and any self confidence he’d been building up evaporated. He looked like he was about to puke. Tyler unbuttoned the suit jacket. No, that looked worse somehow. He buttoned it up again. Fuck, he was spiralling. Tyler swallowed. His fingers kept running up and down the expensive material of the jacket. What if he spilled something on this? Fuck, shit, how-
“Tyler, are you ready?”
“Shit, no, I um, wait-”
Too late. Tyler watched in the mirror as Wednesday pushed open the door. The next second his heart went from racing with panic to freezing in his chest. His anxiety was overruled by Wednesday’s radiance. Tyler spun around to get a better view.
Her braids were pulled back into a bun leaving her pale neck on display. And her collarbone as the dress was off the shoulder. Transparent lace covered her arms forming some intricate pattern that Tyler couldn’t make out. The dress was black, of course. It hugged her chest in a corset style while the skirt fell right above her knees. Different, newer platform boots brought the whole outfit together.
Tyler wanted to devour her.
Wednesday must have felt similarly because next thing he knew he was being pushed against the dresser. Cold hands brought his face down to meet Wednesday’s even colder lips. Tyler moaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist and loving the exquisite material of her dress under his hands. Tyler completely forgot where they were, focusing solely on Wednesday.
This had been a bit of a problem for them, Tyler would admit. After the first week of awkwardness (on his apart), a month of begrudging tolerance (on Wednesday’s part), and another week of finally hashing out all their grievances and admitting how much they still cared for one another, Tyler and Wednesday had found it very difficult to keep their hands off of one another. Typically, neither one of them complained much. Occasionally it would step on Wednesday’s writing time and she’d act annoyed after Tyler had finished ravishing her. Never before. However, it would occasionally get them a knowing glance from Wednesday’s parents or Thing when they were late (or entirely missed) some event they should’ve been at. Tyler couldn’t decide if he really cared about their looks if they missed this particular event. Especially when Wednesday had her tongue down his throat and a thigh pressing against his growing erection.
Unfortunately, Tyler didn’t have to find the strength to pull away. Wednesday was the first one to do that. Though the look she gave him made his knees weak.
“Perhaps it was not the best option to make our outfits for the evening a surprise,” Wednesday admitted.
Tyler smirked. “Really? Cause I don’t mind you shoving me up against a random piece of furniture.” Wednesday’s grip on his hair tightened. Shit, Thing was gonna murder him. Oh well.
“Oh, I know you don’t. But you’re not getting out of the event that easily. Mother is one thing but Enid would be absolutely insufferable if we missed tonight.”
Tyler leaned down and pressed another kiss to her lips. Even if they had been acting like hormonal teenagers (well, they were, he supposed), there was no way that he would get Wednesday to forget about the party downstairs.
Tyler pulled back and tried to give a confident smile. Clearly, he was failing spectacularly if Wednesday’s glare was anything to go by.
“Come on,” Wednesday said. She grabbed his hand and led him out of Pugsley’s room. “I want to show off my boyfriend.”
Tyler nearly stumbled over his feet. He could only see the back of Wednesday’s head and he really, really wished he could see her face at that moment. It was such a rare occasion that Wednesday would call him ‘boyfriend’. More often it was a simple ‘mine’ in the throws of passion. Boyfriend sent a strong tingling up his spine.
The dazed feeling lasted half way down the staircase. Then he became painfully aware of the rest of the people around them. Tyler tightened his grip on Wednesday. He looked around. The Addams' family foyer was much the same as always. Dark, ominous. There were only a few more lit candles than usual. And of course, all the additional guests around.
He was completely on autopilot as they made their way down the rest of the stairs. Wednesday’s grip was firm and sure. People turned to look at them as they passed. Tyler wasn’t sure if the word ‘Hyde’ was truly being whispered about or if he was just paranoid.
“Wednesday!” someone called out.
Wednesday turned and steered them in the direction of the call.
It was like something out of his nightmares. Multiple Nevermore students stood in a group. Enid’s purple hair was easy to spot, waving them over. Well, waving Wednesday over. No one particularly wanted him there.
He’d made amends, sorta. Tyler had only bothered to apologize to Enid and Eugene. Not only because they were the closest to Wednesday but because they were the ones Tyler had directly hurt. The apologies had been accepted but they weren’t staying up late sending each other memes or anything. He was tolerated at best.
“O-M-G! I love this dress!” Enid brought Wednesday into a tight hug. Wednesday reciprocated with one arm patting Enid’s back, once. Her other hand stayed firmly in Tyler’s.
“My my, looks like our little Wednesday has grown up,” Bianca teased.
The fact that the taunt only received a minor glare from Wednesday was proof enough of the two outcast’s friendship.
Tyler’s gaze flickered to the other familiar and unfamiliar faces. Eugene, Ajax, Xavier, a siren who always ordered either an iced chai or vanilla latte, and Yoko. They looked at him with expressions ranging from weariness to suspicion. Except Xavier. Xavier was outright hatred. Tyler resisted the urge of returning the glare. He had bigger problems to deal with.
Wednesday nudged him with his elbow. Tyler refocused on her and then Enid and Bianca. Clearly he’d missed something.
Enid gave a stiff smile. “How have you been, Tyler?”
“Oh, uh, fine,” Tyler said. He hadn’t expected anyone to actually direct any questions to him. Wednesday gave his hand another squeeze. Right, right, manners. “What about you, Enid? Anything new with you?”
“Trying out a new hair color,” Enid said. “And, of course, revamping my wardrobe before I head off to Silverleaf University!”
“Congratulations by the way. Wednesday said they have a pretty low admissions rate.”
“Thanks,” Enid said, giving him a genuine smile. She seemed to remember herself a second later and tried to give him a more neutral expression.
Tyler wasn’t sure if he should take that as a win or not. He was, however, planning to tease Wednesday about how she was making sure he stayed social and polite.
A familiar scoff snapped tension right back into the group. “Are we seriously gonna act like this is okay?” Xavier began.
“Xavier,” Ajax put a hand on his friend’s shoulder but Xavier shrugged it off.
“He nearly killed you,” Xavier said, walking up to Enid. “And now we’re just supposed to exchange niceties with the guy.”
“No,” Wednesday said. “You’re free to leave.”
“Xavier, we talked about this,” Bianca said.
“No, screw that. The Hyde doesn’t even have a master. How do we know he’s not going to go on a killing spree at any second!”
The music continued but the chatter from others in the ballroom no longer accompanied it. Tyler tried not to look around. His Hyde was ready to rip Xavier’s throat out but Tyler knew he was in complete control. He kept his spine straight, staring down Xavier. Not that he spared Tyler a glance.
Wednesday took a step forward. “ Tyler doesn’t need a master. He has me, his mate. And I keep him and my Hyde fully satisfied so you don’t need to worry about either of them losing control.” Another step forward. “My patience, on the other hand, is running thin.”
Wednesday kept staring Xavier down until the idiot took a step back and broke eye contact. Unbelievable. Wednesday would never pick such a weak partner.
His girlfriend turned around and steered them away from her group of friends. “Come on,” Wednesday said. “Let’s dance.” She glanced back at him and Tyler swore she was smirking at him.
Tyler followed Wednesday to the center of the dance floor. The crowd parted for them easily. The room was still subdued after listening to the argument with Xavier. He was not used to all the attention from others. He looked at Wednesday who walked with a confident step, unbothered by the stares or awkwardness from the other guest.
He watched her turn to Pugsley who stood next to all the sound equipment on the far wall. She gave a small nod and Pugsley quickly queued up a song. Oh, this had been planned. Wednesday dropped his hand and turned back to look at him. He didn’t get a chance to wonder what her plan was before the music started up again.
A very familiar, upbeat piano melody flooded the ballroom. Tyler’s eyes widened in surprise. He met Wednesday’s eyes and could see the glint of amusement in her otherwise stoic expression.
“The Last of the Real Ones” had become one of his most played songs since he moved into the Addams Family. His current therapist had recommended an intense workout routine to keep his anxiety and Hyde under control. Apparently, he was predisposed to have more energy than the average normie so regular exercise helped expel that energy and keep it from manifesting as anxiety. It also kept the Hyde mildly entertained to be moving rather than sitting around. Sometimes his entire cardio routine would just be this song on loop. And, occasionally, he would even let loose and dance to this song. Though Tyler didn’t know if he could call it dancing. It was more like jumping and flailing his limbs around to the music. It felt good though.
And, he’d admit, the lyrics were special to him now.
As the opening melody continued, Wednesday raised an eyebrow. A challenge. Oh! Oh no…she’d seen him dancing to this. He had a quick flashback to that night at the Rav’n. Wednesday had been utterly captivating. She’d danced like no one was watching and kept her eyes locked on his whenever she was facing him. She’d danced for him. And now she was requesting the same.
The vocals started and Tyler glanced around them. Everyone was looking at them. He swallowed nervously and then looked back at Wednesday as “ and then I found you” echoed across the dance floor.
Tyler smiled. Wednesday’s words from last night echoed back to him. No one else’s opinion mattered. It was just him and her.
If Wednesday wanted a performance, then he’d deliver.
He moved slowly around her as the song described planets orbiting their sun, Wednesday maintaining eye contact whenever he was in her line of sight. When he was back in front of her, he started moving his body to the music, feeling the momentum build up in him. There was a pause before the chorus began and Tyler took in a big breath. Here goes nothing , he thought.
“ Cause you’re the last of a dying breed! ” Tyler jumped with the music punching his fist in the air to the tempo. His eyes closed, letting himself be swept away with the chorus. He spun and jumped and he swore he even did an air kick at some point. The music was so familiar at that point that Tyler hardly needed to think, just move.
As the chorus died down and the second verse started, Tyler came to a stop and looked at Wednesday. She rewarded him with one of her rare but genuine smiles. Tyler felt a smile break out on his face too.
With that reassurance, he started swaying with the music again. He figured he might as well commit to doing this song justice. Tyler started pointing directly at Wednesday whenever the song referred to “you”. Wednesday rolled her eyes on the “I will protect you” line, but Tyler knew it was meant affectionately.
When the bridge started and the tempo slowed down, Tyler moved behind Wednesday and wrapped his arms around her waist. He whispered the lyrics into her hair for a moment, swaying them back and forth. Then he took one of her hands and spun her around so they were facing each other again.
As the bridge was ending, Tyler finally took notice of their surroundings again. Eugene and Enid were walking onto the dance floor next to them. Followed closely by Bianca and the rest of the Nevermore graduates. Xavier was not among them but that hardly made a difference to Tyler. As the first line of the chorus began, Enid exaggeratedly yelled the lyrics as she began dancing. Tyler smiled and nearly got choked up. Wednesday had been right; it didn’t matter if none of her friends or former classmates forgave him or hated him. But fuck, had he needed some kind of external forgiveness for what happened nearly three years ago.
He blinked the tears away and started jumping and screaming the lyrics along with Enid and Ajax. The other Nevermore graduates danced around them.
The song ended and was immediately followed by another familiar pop song. Tyler could hardly believe his ears. Him and every single Nevermore graduate turned to look at Wednesday, dumbfounded. Everyone but Tyler quickly looked away the next second. Wednesday’s murderous glare had improved over the years.
Once the other students were off dancing to Dua Lipa’s “Physical”, Tyler moved towards Wednesday. His shit eating grin didn’t falter even through her death glare. Neither of them moved, wrapped up in their own memory that this song evoked. Tyler leaned down to speak into Wednesday’s ear over the music, “Should I be worried about actual pig’s blood raining down on us soon?”
Wednesday rolled her eyes again. “Mother confiscated my order when it arrived,” Wednesday explained. Tyler laughed wholeheartedly. His perfect little demon. She was absolutely adorable.
As the chorus blared out, Tyler’s eyes flickered down to Wednesday’s lips just like they had all those years ago. And similar to their first kiss in the Weathervane, Wednesday was the one to take the final step and close the distance between them. Tyler kissed back, wrapping his arms around her waist.
When they pulled back, Wednesday had a very familiar smile on her face.
Tyler leaned back down and kissed her again. When he pulled back, he started dancing to the music. Wednesday reluctantly joined him and Enid. Tyler looked around. All the familiar faces were smiling and having fun. He locked eyes with Wednesday and could see his happiness reflected in her eyes. He knew this night would be a cherished memory for many, many years to come.