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Chapter Text

Pugsley was sleeping, it was usually a rare thing, in fact the boy had so much energy in his vein that he could not sit still even for just a second, sleeping for him was always a challenge.

That day, however, it was not like that. He was tired, destroyed. What was the point of getting up, going to the canteen in front of so many students just to sit alone and looking like the school clown? Pugsley wasn't stupid, he knew no one liked him, not even his roommate liked him!
Pugsley never actually knew how to talk to people, that was the problem, he was always too much, but he thought that being in a new school would make everything easier!Goddamn it! He was at Nevermore! A school full of outcast! How was it possible that even in that place, full of weirdos, he was the strangest one? In short, his mood was on the ground and all this for a thousand of things:

for Slurp who had been gone for more than a week (not that Pugsley was counting the days) and Pugsley was more alone than before.

For all the murmurs that followed him when he sat alone at lunch or when he did anything else.

for Eugene who hasn't spoken to him since slurp was taken away.

And… for the rave'n that was going to be held in a few days.

It would have been Pugsley's first dance and he didn't want to go alone! A few weeks before he was sure he would at least have the company of his frien- no… roommate Eugene, but the boy didn't want to talk to Pugsley anymore.
Not that theirs was a real friendship, even if in the last period Pugsley had fooled himself thinking that it was.

Eugene was already awake for a few hours, he was reviewing some notes he had take for a test he had in the first period.
He was enjoying the unusual silence that pervaded the room, it didn't happen often, in fact, that their room was peaceful.

Eugene’s roommate, Pugsley Addams, was always full of energy and always disturbed Ottinger's work.
now that he was thinking about it… it was really strange that there was silence.

Eugene looked in pugsley’s bed, the boy was sleeping.

“strange… Pugsley never sleep that much”

He thought to himself. Eugene calmly closed his notebook and headed to the door. He then turned to Pugsley, why was he looking at him? It’s not like he was preoccupied! He was avoiding him on purpose… still it would have been unfair not to woke him up in the end Pugsley was still his roommate (sadly)

"It's late Pugsley, get up. We have a test in one hour”

After saying that he went out of the squeaky door closing it behind him leaving the room and Pugsley in the shadow.

Chapter Text

Eugene was in the garden of the Nevermore Academy with his friends, he was still a little sad because of the test he had that morning, he was sure he would’ve got a C! It didn’t go well especially because he continued to distract himself by looking towards the empty chair where his roommate usually sat. But…hey! Why was he still thinking about him?? He wasn't his babysitter after all! now Eugene just had to focus on his new friends.

he leaned his head a little towards them so that he could hear their discussion better, they were talking about the Rave'n he knew that but he didn't know why they were doing it.

"Maybe we should throw some paint at him?"

"Mate those troglodytes in the city already did it last year, stuff already seen"

Eugene coughed to get the attention of his friends, who turned to him.

"What are you guys talking about? you know I got distracted to…uh... look at a girl that was passing by"

the boys laughed saying things like "this is our Eugene" or "always the same" and Eugene smiled a little as he adjusted his glasses.

the truth is that Eugene had changed for those guys, or at least he tried. He was afraid of being judged so he changed a little bit of his personality.

For his friends, for example, he was a boy hungry for girls, not honey. or he was a first-class slacker who did not want to study, on the contrary Eugene was very attentive to his grades. In his defense, however, he had changed because he no longer wanted to be the weirdo on duty, he no longer wanted to be teased and he totally didn’t want to be defended by an Addams. for God's sake! He saved the school! he could not longer be the frightened boy he often was!

Then a boy with raven hair and dirty sunglasses, Chuck, opened his mouth to speak.

"anyway, we are talking about your roommate, what was his name again? Pegslay? Come on... the one who revived a zombie!"

Eugene looked at him for a moment confused the he opened his mouth.

"Oh you mean Pugsley? and why are you talking about him? Y’know he is not as interesting as it seems, don't waste your energy with him ehehe..!"

his friends looked at each other and then laughed, which made Eugene uncomfortable as his fake smile vanished.

"Oh Eugene! Let us bother him and see how long that horrible smile of his can remain on his face!"

"Oh… oh.”

the boys laughed and then a tall blond one, Derry, took out of his backpack a file full of photos, Eugene adjusted his glasses, the boy opened the file revealing photos of a raven boy who reminded Eugene of his roommate.

"W-What is it?"

"These are photos of Addams in his old school! You guys will not believe what I discovered, it didn't even take long to collect this information! a friend of mine in town helped me!"

Eugene scrutinized the photos, there were photos of Pugsley with his head in the toilet, photos of Pugsley being locked in a locker, photos of Pugsley's locker (with a lot of slur on it) and so many other photo that saw him as the victim of an embarrassing and cruel situations. So…Ottinger would never have imagined that Pugsley's past had been like this. How could he? The boy never talked about his old school! a wave of guilt pervaded him, he had to talk about it with Pugsley, but now he couldn't leave! he would have left too delicate things in the (wrong) hands of his friends.

"Oh uhm... That's cool. Ehhh.. What do you want to do with them?"

he asked after a while.

"It seems obvious to me Eugene! The best joke of the century!"

"Oh well... and.. what do I have to do with it?"

"You will be the bait"

the situation for Eugene could only get worse.

Wednesday was in the garden, she was listening to Enid’s gossip, but her head was somewhere else.

She had noticed that Eugene was also in the garden, he wasn’t alone he was with those strange friends of his and he didn’t seemed very happy about it.

Wednesday didn't understand how he could be friends with those who once made fun of him, but she couldn't judge him, like, she could become friends with a murderer just to understand his modus operandi, and this was the least she could do!
the only problem was that in the last few days she had some very bad vision and Eugene was in them.

She didn't know exactly what would happen since her latest visions lasted only a few seconds and were distorted, but she knew that something would happen at the Rave'n.

Wednesday had agreed to go out into the garden only because she had glimpsed Eugene and his group and was with an ear strained trying to pick up a few words from the group, to her aid there was also Thing who was spying on them from the flowerbed next door.

"And so Jessika told him - Wednesday?? Are you listening to me?"

Wednesday was called back by Enid's visibly irritated voice.

"yes, you were talking about Jessika and Romeo and how they discovered they were... brothers?"

"Wednesday what the hell .. NO! I’ll start all over again so pay attention this time. So.."

Wednesday looked at the spot where Hand was hiding and then she looked at Enid, a little smile appearing on her lips. 

Chapter Text

Pugsley was still in his room, he hadn't attended any classes that day, but no one would have noticed, right?
Not that it was a new thing for him, at his old school he could spend the whole day locked in a locker and no one would have noticed it except his sister, and every time (after defending him) she gave him her usual lecture about feeling everything too much and having to solidify himself, create an armor in short.

But now was not the time to waste time on things like that, God being in that room alone was driving him mad! Actually...he wasn't alone he was with Eugene's Sna- bugs.
Actually it wasn't a bad idea eating Eugene's bugs, it would have been a good way to revenge Slurp.
he started approaching the insect land ... however... thinking about it a second time Eugene cared a lot about his bugs and he probably would've cried and Pugsley did not want that.
After a few second he shook his head and went back to his bed.

Before Eugene returned to the room another two hours passed, when he finally returned Pugsley already knew that it was him despite being turned towards the wall because he had been shaken by the impact of his electricity with the metal of Eugene's braces.
Pugsley didn't say greet at him, that was what he deserved, even if he was sure that Eugene didn't care that much about it.
They weren't friends after all.
Then he heard something.
Eugene's voice.

"Pugsley."

Silence.

"Pugsley."

Pugsley didn't know if answering him would be the right thing, God he wanted to talk to Eugene but he couldn't. He had to maintain his integrity.
He limited himself to an "Mh" but remained turned towards the wall.

"Come on... You can't keep doing this, I'm trying to talk to you"

Then Pugsley snapped.

"oh so i can't ignore you, but you can?"

Even Pugsley was surprised by his reply, he was never that irritated.
he turned to Eugene with an angry look on his face.

"Yes... You're right. I'm... sorry."

"What?"

"You heard me, sorry."

"Yes, it's true, I heard you. Sorry for what Eugene?"

Pugsley asked not because he didn't know why he was sorry, he asked it because he wanted to know if he really meant it.

He got up going towards Eugene with his arms crossed lowering his head and looking towards him, Eugene looked at the point of his shoes suddenly finding them interesting.

"For... for how I treated you from day zero, for ignoring you and for not helping you with Slurp or at least for not helping you when they took him away... you... You didn't deserve it, not at all. I was a horrible roommate."

At that point Pugsley had turned to him with his eyes slightly wide open.

"Do you really think that or are you kidding me?"

"I really mean it Pugsley."

Eugene held out his hand to him as if to seal that moment.

Pugsley looked at his hand for a few seconds.

"Friends? "

Eugene asked, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"Friends."

Pugsley lost himself in a big (almost maniac) smile and shook Eugene's hand with energy.
Electricity took over his whole body reaching the tips of his fingers giving a small shock to both boys.

"Energy?"

Eugene asked with a chuckle.

"You already know it man, but y'know i can't control it when i'm excited. I'm happy that it's all over! Now i wanted to show you my newest invention is a crab with..."

Eugene looked down for a moment his head in another place, Pugsley's voice slowly fading away while he was lost in his own world. He couldn't remain silent about the rave'n, he couldn't accept his friends' plan! It would have been cruel. He had to tell Pugsley about it to protect him.

"... Pugsley?"

"yes man?"

there was a few seconds of silence, then Eugene shook his head.

"Nothing... It doesn't matter, I forgot hehe"

Pugsley frowned.

"Strange... you usually have such a strong memory! Are you sure that you aren't sick?"

Pugsley approached Eugene putting his hand on his forehead and Eugene froze at the contact embarrassed.

"NO. I MEAN... no!! I'm fine, I-i swear!"

Pugsley shrugged away from him.

"You'll be thinking too much then."

Eugene hated how right Pugsley was.

Wednesday hated what she had just discovered.

Chapter Text

Pugsley was going through the best days of his life, everything was going beautifully!

He could finally say that he had a friend (and, not to exaggerate, almost a best friend) and he could say that he had a sister very interested in his life, in fact, lately Wednesday often went  to see Pugsley and Eugene in their dormitory!

It was maybe a little weird and suspicious that every time she looked at Eugene she had a more serious look but it was probably just her usual look, maybe Pugsley had to stop reading things.

Eugene was going through the worst days of his life.

He couldn't live with what he was doing, Eugene wasn’t like this! He was a loyal friend not some kind of play boy.

Why he accepted that cruel request that his group had made to him?

thinking about it was not a real request but at least Eugene could say something instead of smiling and nodding like a stupid boy!

And as if all this were not enough, two other critical factors had been added to his crisis: Wednesday and the rave'n.

Well…Wednesday knew what Eugene was going to do, he didn’t know how but she knew. This thought sent Eugene a shiver down his spine.

How did he know? Well, lately the girl looked at him with threatening looks and talked to him with cold words, things that are not unusual for Wednesday but more and more frequent.

The rave'n was another problem and not only because of everything that would happen but also because he should invite Pugsley to dance and go there with him, which embarrassed him a lot.

Now, there would have been no problems if the two of them were just friends, but they weren't.

In addition, inviting Pugsley would mean that he played his part in this cruel joke and, even if he was a total weirdo, Pugsley did not deserve it.

The boy had literally helped a zombie (you got it right A ZOMBIE) always feeding him and talking to him for hours and hours giving him everything he needed!

Sometimes he even fell asleep next to him at night (and to keep him from freezing to death Eugene often put a blanket on him dragging it from their dorm to Pugsley).

In short, there was no kinder and prettier person than Pugsley Addams!

…

NOT THAT PUGSLEY WAS CUTE! God what was he thinking?!? (OBJECTIVELY Pugsley was cute but- he was not Eugene’s type duh!)

In Eugene's eyes he was a simple boy that he had to invite to the Rave'n and who casually happen to have a pretty face! But nothing to call cute! And even if he was it was all causal thing!

Wait... who ever said that a straight guy can't think that his 'friend' is cute?? He might sound homophobic which Eugene was absolutely not!

Okay maybe... Pugsley was cute,

Now that this interior crisis ended Eugene could move on.

The problem was that moving to his forward point meant asking Pugsley about the dance.

His friends had strongly recommended inviting him to the dance in a romantic way, so that there was no misunderstanding between the two.

And here a question appeared in Eugene's head

How did they know Pugsley would accept the proposal??

No because how did the boys were so sure that Pugsley liked him in that way??

Yeah, Pugsley always followed him and hung from his lips but... it was only because Pugsley was alone.

It’s not that Eugene was special, no? Pugsley was obsessed with every person showing him a minimum of respect!

Obsessed but not in a romantic way, or at least that's what Eugene believed, and even if it was real it would have been a toxic addiction!

Eugene took a breath to calm all that avalanche of thoughts.

He would invite pugsley when the right moment showed.

"Eugene?"

Eugene turned his head towards Pugsley's bed confused touching his bedside table trying to find his glasses.

"Yes, Pugsley?"

"Are you nervous about something? Usually you fall asleep like a rock in five minutes"

"No I-"

Eugene was silent for a second thinking about what he wanted to say, Pugsley stood motionless on his pillow he didn't dare to breathe, he felt that something was about to happen, he certainly wasn't a psychic like his mother, he wasn't the smartest of the room and he certainly didn't have his sister's visions.

But…

Pure electricity flowed in his veins and he could understand when something big was going to happen, his fingers full of electricity waiting for Eugene to finish talking.

"You?"

“Pugs it's better if you go to sleep”

"Come on Eugene! You can talk to me you know, I've told you a million times"

And that was the problem, Pugsley always listened.

Eugene took a deep breath. now or never.

"Pugsley I don't know how much you will like what I'm about to tell you"

"What's up man? Do you need help hiding something? A body perhaps?”

Eugene sensed his smile from the tone of his voice, Pugsley quickly got up from his bed going in front of Eugene putting his hand on the table they had in common.

Ottinger sat down on the edge of his bed with the intention of getting up.

"No pugsley is another thing-"

"If you want I can help! I helped my uncle once, you know?”

"Pugsley just listen-"

"And don't worry the first corpse is always the most difficult-"

Eugene jumped up resting his hands on Pugsley's sides on the table, the Addams shut up looking at him through the rays of the moon, his eyes running all over his face, mesmerised.

“Pugsley do you want to come to the rave'n with me?”

There was a second of silence and then the room almost blow up, electricity.

The two boys found their hair all frizzy and Pugsley let out a small squeal from his mouth.

Eugene blinked, not understanding why there was a sudden release of electricity, usually Pugsley happened to release electricity when he was excited, but it couldn't be that he was, right?

"I- are you kidding??"

Eugene shook his head.

"No pugsley. I want to go to the rave’n with you. And- not as friends... I would like it to be a date, just you and… well, me.
so can i allow myself to invite you?”

Pugsley made one of his maniacal smiles, failing to hide his happiness, his cheeks turned red and he began to nod softly confirming Eugene's greatest fear.

"You really think you need an answer?? my powers answered for me Eugene.”

After he said that, Pugsley put a hand on Eugene's chest, slowly moving him away from him, Eugene sat back on his bed while Pugsley turned around, only his face was still turned toward Eugene.

"Now I'd better sleep otherwise tomorrow I'll think it was all a dream"

The boy had a small laugh, his face, which stood out from the shadow of the room thanks to the moonlight, was lethal, a mixture between the cute and the sinister, Eugene didn't think Pugsley had ever been more pretty.

Maybe it was that relaxed face of his still a little red from before, or maybe it was his laugh, the fact is that Eugene's stomach turned around.

That night Eugene didn't sleep, what had happened was repeated in his head  in a deadly loop.

Not even Pugsley slept, but he didn't dare to talk to Eugene, on the contrary he looked at him from the crack of his bed.

The next morning neither of them spoke, Ajax who used to pass in every room to check that no one was sleeping beyond the scheduled time looked at their door.

"Good morning! how are my obnoxious roommates?"

"Oh God. go away Ajax, otherwise I'll throw some bugs at you."

"Oh, did I interrupt a fight? I didn't think you were already starting to have troubles in heaven!"

Ajax giggled. 
Eugene blinked in disbelief.

"Troubles.. In… where?? What??"

Eugene asked confused, Pugsley looked at them in silence as he hurried to put on his jacket.

"You know- during your honeymoon phase?? Last night all Caliban hall heard you! And…Pugsley let me say, don't go around talking about corpses like it’s normal... it’s weird!
Anyway! congratulations for being the last two to realise that you two like each other!"

He said clapping his hands.

"WHAT?"

“WHAT?”

Eugene and Pugsley blushed while Ajax laughed.

Eugene was embarrassed as hell and sprinted out of the room leaving Ajax and a tomato Pugsley alone.

Wednesday was waiting for someone in front of the canteen, probably Enid, Eugene tried to pass with nonchalance but she took him by the edge of his jacket.

Her eyes more dark than ever, her tone rude.

"Eugene, we need to talk."

Chapter Text

Eugene was floating in a smelly dorm room, in front of him Chuck and Derry, his “friends” were laughing proud of them unaware of the girl hidden behind them.

Eugene didn't know what to expect, he had a lump in his throat since Wednesday showed up in front of the cafeteria. 

He actually understood that there was something wrong right away since the girl never ate, or at least didn't eat in front of others.

“hey Wednesday! Haha...what are you doing here? All right? Need help finding Pugsley? I think... um...I think it’s coming right now!”

“shut up Eugene, the two of us have a lot to talk about.”Eugene had a little awkward laugh, as his friend's eyes pierced him.

Wednesday was taking him to the music room, miss Capri was away for a week (Wednesday suspected it was to spend more time with miss Fairburn, who had finally gotten the week off. But that wasn't her business.)

When the raven finally stopped Eugene breathed a sigh of relief, like she definitely didn't want to kill him, otherwise she would have already killed him in front of everyone at the canteen, so... what did she want?

“sit.”

Wednesday, crossed her arms as Eugene sat before her on a bench, his hands resting on his lap.

“I know what you're going to do to my brother. You have seventeen seconds to explain why and another five to beg forgiveness.”

Eugene thought for a moment, it was just a matter of time anyway before Wednesdsay would have found out, so there was no need to think too much about what to say.

“-My friends want to play a prank on Pugsley during the rave'n. They want me...to embarrass him with his old p-pictures-and eventually reveal that I had invited him as a joke, almost out of pity...but Wednesday...I don't want to do it, as much as Pugsley and I aren't friends he doesn't deserve it.I can't even tell my friends that I don't want to be part of the joke anymore though, they would kill me... I don't want to go back to how everything was before, I like having friends.”

As Eugene spoke his face turned red, his eyes moist and his breathing heavy.

Wednesday listened to him nodding, while Thing, who was hidden in his backpack, took colorful notes.

“honestly Eugene you were pathetic. I can't blame you though. I don't care about the others or of why you did that, i have to help my brother, and you will help me. Now listen to me and do what I tell you, only I can make fun of my brother and I won't let that assholes hurt him.

Eugene nodded, the comment had hurt him but in the end he deserved it a little’, he approached Wednesday to listen to what she had to say, he approached her ear and started whispering the plan.

And here's how he ended up in Chuck and Derry's room.
The plan was simple, look for Pugsley's photos and burn them, thus putting an end to everything, simple right? well, according to some, it had to be (coff coff Wednesday coff coff)!

he had entered the boys' room during school hours, knowing they would not be there. He didn't even have the time to enter the rooms that he found himself floating.
Derry, who was sitting on his bed with Chuck, saw him first, quickly took his hand off the boy's and pointed it at Eugene, immobilizing him. Eugene let out a grunt of shame and hung around trying not to look at the boys while they were trying to adjust each other uniforms. 

"What are you doing here Eugene??" started Chuck.

"I-i..."

think Eugene, think... what would Wednesday do...

"WHAT YOU TWO WERE DOING IS THE REAL QUESTION."

turning the situation around could help again.
the two boys looked at each other blushing as they splattered different excuses in sync.
then Derry realized what Eugene had done.

"Hey wait don't change the conversation! what the hell were you doing in our room, huh??"

Then books flew in the faces of Derry and Chuck who looses Eugene's grip to cover his faces.
Ottinger hit his head on the ground but got up quickly running out of the room, the two boys started chasing him through the corridors of the school while he tried to get as far away as possible.

That was Wednesday moment.

As soon as Eugene walked away enough followed by boys, the girl entered the room.

Each drawer was opened in search of his brother's photos, but he couldn't find them. He knew they were there Wednesday, if he heard... he had to think, he’d checked everywhere for a material rehearsal, but maybe the rehearsal was digital!

Quickly he opened the PC on Chuck's desk.

Enter password.

oh come on.wednesday grunted annoyed but started thinking...maybe it was her birthday? luckily there was a photo of Chuck complete with a pinned cap and a cake with a date written on it, he inserted it.

Wrong password.

What a pain in the ass...

Password Hint:

birthday date.

Wednesday reconsidered a lot of things, like murder. Se would have burned the computer but she couldn't do it since she had plans to take revenge.
The raven put her fingers on her temple, then put her finger tip on the laptop, a quick vision. Chuck entering the password.

Sixteen.. sixteenth of April.

Bingo!

Wednesday quickly typed her password and entered the PC, the main screen full of folders opened in front of her, one had the title "Addams" only Addams, not Pugsley, nothing else only Addams, as if that surname meant everything that was and would ever be Pugsley, a total nobody. 

Wednesday  opened the folder, endless photos of Pugsley appeared before her eyes, all taken in embarrassing moments, how Eugene's friends found them was a mystery. The girl emptied the folder on the rubbish bin then she connected Eugene's cell phone cable and the cell phone (obviously) exported the files full of embarrassing photos of Chuck and Derry.

Then she closed the computer muttering quietly while walking away.

"i've got you Pugsley."

Chapter Text

Pugsley was trying on clothes for the rave. He was standing in front of the mirror wearing a pure white puff-sleeved shirt with a black velvet waistcoat embroidered with roses and skeletons, also black but shinier than the rest of the fabric to make them stand out. and silver embroidered buttons. Over this he wore a black bow tie that fell nicely with its frills on the vest. Underneath he wore black bell-bottom pants and his usual boots. His jacket was black with wide sleeves and silver studs on the shoulders and collar. He was bent over the mirror putting black pencil under his eye.

He felt cute. He had never felt that way before.

Perhaps bearing the Addams name had always prevented it. After all, the Addams were many things: mysterious, passionate, strange.

But not cute, never cute.

All of them possessed that sinister yet ethereal beauty of the family, but Pugsley had never felt it himself. He did not want to be beautiful, he wanted to be cute, which was much more.

He wanted people to see him and think, “Oh, what a cute boy, he seems like a great person to talk to,” and not, “Oh my gosh, he's one of the Addams, better get out of here before something happens to us.”

But in that moment, Pugsley felt cute, and nobody was going to change that, no one.

It was at that moment that Eugene walked in. Seeing Pugsley busy getting ready, smiling like a child at Christmas with the biggest, brightest eyes the boy had ever seen, Eugene's heart stopped.

He had to tell him that he wasn't going to the dance with him anymore. It wasn't fair for Pugsley to be made a fool like that, was it? He had to tell him what he had done and beg for forgiveness.

Yet at the sight of the boy, all those racing thoughts stopped.

“Eugene! You're late! You have to get ready!”

As soon as Pugsley saw him, he smiled and handed him the clothes Eugene had prepared a few hours earlier.

...

Fine.

That was it. Eugene would go to the dance with Pugsley. What could possibly go wrong? The photos had been deleted, and going to the Rave'n alone would be sad.

“Geez, okay man, I'll get ready in a minute.”

Eugene chuckled as he took the clothes and went to the bathroom.

Okay, it sucked.

Pugsley was dressed like the prettiest pageant contestant, while Eugene looked like a penguin, with his vest and shirt tucked neatly into his elegant black pants. He tried to fix his hair as best he could, failing, so he focused on his tie. God, why had no one ever told him that putting on a tie was so difficult? He came out of the bathroom with his tie hanging crookedly around his neck.

Pugsley was finishing fixing his hair and then turned to Eugene, looking at him with his head slightly tilted, pointing to the tie.

“May I?”

“Yes, please.”

Pugsley approached him, slowly fixing the tie and tying it with his hands. Eugene stood still as a rock, determined not to move, not knowing where to put his hands.

His eyes lingered on Pugsley's face, studying every feature, from his deep black eyes, made even more mesmerizing by the eyeliner he had applied, to his lips, closed in a thin line of concentration.

Eugene didn't like Pugsley like...That for sure. He was going to the dance with him only because they were friends, not out of pity, but not out of love either. Yet at that moment, Pugsley's face so close to his made him hope for something more, made him deeply crave for contact, passion.

Meanwhile, Pugsley was thinking about how to tie a tie. It wasn't the first time he had done so; in fact, at every Addams event he could remember, he had always worn a tie, yet tying a tie for someone else was another matter.

Especially if that someone was... Well Eugene.

The warmth radiating from Eugene's chest as it touched his cold skin made his hands tremble a little, but a few minutes later he stepped back and looked at his work: a perfect tie.

“Done.”

“Thanks, Pugsley.”

The boy shrugged and smiled slightly, as if to say it was nothing, then turned away, leaving Eugene staring after him as he headed for the door.

After a moment, the raven-haired boy turned his head slightly, just enough to show his smile.

“Well? Shall we go?”

Eugene smiled, chuckling softly, and walked towards him, leaving with the boy.

"The night is young Pugsley we have all the time we want"

Until they didn't. 

Chapter Text

The two entered the ballroom, a large hall decorated with black and blue banners bearing slogans encouraging them to be outcasts, to be different.
There were long tables laden with food and decorated with black drapes that all ended in a large bow. The lighting was subdued, and blue and black stars hung from the ceiling.
There was no real theme that year; the principal had decided to pay homage to the school, so everything was in tune. At the end of the hall, elegant and abnormal, was the school logo, an N standing alone in a sinister but elegant way.
Pugsley couldn't help but notice that there was music playing in the background coming from the speakers. At least there was a DJ at this party that seemed to come straight out of the 1800s.
Most of the students were already inside, warming up their bodies with spiked punch or avant-garde dance moves.
Eugene looked around a little bewildered. Okay, it was true, he had become popular, but that didn't mean he was a totally different person.

Pugsley, on the other hand, seemed born to be there, moving like water in a river among the students, dragging Eugene along with him. Instead of looking around the room, Eugene kept his eyes fixed on Pugsley, who seemed like a burst of light among the dull souls filling the room.
Pugsley was a star about to implode, lethal and luminous.

The two danced a little awkwardly, with Eugene trying out dance steps clearly stolen from the people around him and the raven dancing strangely, with decisive but indecipherable steps.

In the end, Eugene found himself with his back against the wall, hopeless, sipping a glass of punch while keeping his eyes fixed on Pugsley, who was trying to chat with everyone but was always quickly dismissed.

Pugsley had felt Eugene's eyes on him since... well, since the beginning, but he didn't want to tell him for fear of losing that fleeting attention that for once was directed at him and only him, not Wednesday, not his mother, but Pugsley.

Then a slow dance started and the Addams turned to Ottinger with pleading eyes.

“NO.”
Eugene said immediately, embarrassed.

“Come on... This is my song! You can't say no! I don't... I don't want to dance alone, please.”

And with that last sentence, Eugene gave in, holding out his hand to Pugsley and looking at him with a silent invitation to take it. The raven-haired boy looked at him and then placed his hand on the beekeeper's with a small smile.
The two made their way through the dance hall to the center, the music was about to start, Eugene recognized the first notes of Elvis's “Can't Help Falling in Love.”
But the music stopped.

“Attention, attention, students of Nevermore, we will only have your attention for a few seconds, don't worry!”
The voice belonged to Chuck, who had made his way to the DJ booth.
Eugene wasn't scared; in fact, he was thrilled because he knew something that only Wednesday knew, namely the photo swap, and he couldn't wait to see how Chuck and Derry would make fools of themselves.

“We'd like to talk about the tragedy boy here at Nevermore THE loser in this school, who even today, poor guy, tried to talk to all of us, and we all sent him away one after the other, but it seems he didn't get the message, right, Pugsley?”
Derry began, turning the spotlight to the center of the room, on Addams, who looked around with a slight tremor as everyone walked away from him, everyone except Eugene. He remained at Pugsley's side, ready to take him away, but the raven wouldn't budge from his spot, as if he was stuck.

“Well, here's a reminder for you, little Pugsley, we don't want you here. You're weird, disgusting, and annoying, you're so boring that even Eugene didn't want to come to the dance with you, he only accompanied you out of pity... well, actually out of obligation, isn't that right, Eugene?”
The room, which until a moment ago had been full of giggles and stupid comments, fell silent, waiting to hear Eugene's response. Eugene had turned purple.

He didn't answer. He couldn't answer. He had to say it wasn't true, that he was there to be with Pugsley, but the words stuck in his throat, unable to come out.
Eugene turned his face toward Pugsley, who was looking at him, waiting to hear that it wasn't true, that it was a joke, that he really wanted to be with him, but Eugene remained silent.

Pugsley shook his head slowly at first, then faster, his eyes filling with tears, unable to understand why.

“No... No...”
He kept repeating it like a mantra, walking backwards until he bumped into a girl with her back turned.

“Ew...”
She said, moving away, but Pugsley had already turned around, pushing the students aside to make room for himself.

Eugene watched him run away without saying anything, as if seeing those tear-filled eyes had sent him into a trance.
But he couldn't stand still, couldn't be passive about everything that was happening. He had to react, stop everyone.
Eugene recovered and looked around, Wednesday's eyes fixed on him. But now was not the time to talk to her.

The beekeeper turned and ran after Pugsley, ignoring everything, the murmurs that followed him, the laughter. Everything.

Pugsley was hiding under a Nevermore canopy, not far from the dance, his legs out of commission because they had turned to jelly. The boy was curled up crying, his clothes ruined and torn, the pencil dripping down his cheeks.

Tap tap.

Footsteps.

Pugsley hugged himself tighter, in a cold embrace.

Someone had sat down next to him, watching him. Pugsley raised his head, confirming his worst fear. Eugene.

Eugene was mortified his eyes filled with tears and remorse.

“Pugsley, please listen to me, I didn't... I didn't mean to, at first I did it for them, I asked you out because I didn't have the courage to say no to those guys, but then... I swear it was all real, I would never have done that to you, I'm not like that, please trust me, I'm so sorry I could... I don't know, you tell me, I...”

And something inside Pugsley broke.

"I, i, i, i! It's always about you! Who cares about me, huh?! It's never about me isn't it? You didn't even ask me how I felt, Eugene, God! You can't expect to ignore my feelings every time and then immediately receive forgiveness! I don't... I don't deserve it! Damn it, I don't want to forgive anyone anymore, not Chuck, not Derry, not all those students who laughed, not your fucking friends, and especially not you! Of all people... you hurt me the most, you know what I went through, you know perfectly well, Wednesday told you about it and you just pretended nothing happened!"

Pugsley blurted out, his chest rising and falling with such fury that it almost caused the beekeeper to panic, a trail of energy surrounding him, making him shine in the moonlight. Tears fell hotly down his cheeks in torrents, showing no sign of stopping, continuing unabated despite the boy's effort to wipe them away with his sleeves, causing only irritation to his now thin, cadaverous skin.

Eugene looked at him silently, his eyes shining as he listened. Then he looked at Pugsley and pulled him into a tight embrace, careless of the electric shocks surrounding now the two of them, but the boy did not seem to want to calm down and for a few seconds continued to shout disconnected things, so overwhelmed was he. He struggled with all his strength but then gave in to the embrace, crying on Eugene with his hands punching him weakly on the chest.

“Why...? Why me? Eugene, why me?”
Eugene hugged him without saying anything, waiting for Pugsley to calm down, tracing circles behind his back with his fingers to reassure him, while the raven continued to ask why and cry inconsolably.

After what seemed like an eternity, Pugsley stopped crying, but he wasn't the same Pugsley as before. Something in him was broken and probably couldn't be fixed. He wiped his tears for the last time, avoiding looking at the beekeeper.
Eugene was silent for a few seconds, then looked at the boy in front of him and opened his mouth.

“What... What did you mean by what happened to you?”
Eugene knew that the raven had been teased before going to Nevermore, but he thought it was an isolated incident. Hearing him say otherwise slightly surprised him.

“Don't you know? At my old school, I was teased, like... Bullying.”
He said it quietly, ignoring Eugene's gaze.

“What?? Why?”
Pugsley looked at him and pointed at himself.

“Can't you see? I'm an Addams, I'm weird, scary, different.”

...

Silence.

“Do you know what they used to call me?”

Eugene shakes his head. Pugsley then looks up at him, his eyes on the verge of tears again.

“They called me Pigsley, that was all I ever was to them. A pig.”
Eugene shook his head, looking at him and taking his hands, his eyes shiny.

“But you're not, you know that, right?”
Pugsley shook his head.

“No, I don't know. Because the only person I finally felt like myself with asked me to go to Rave'n for pity's sake. So no, I don't think I deserve better, do I? Maybe it's some punishment I have to serve for something I did in my other life.”
Eugene shook his head, shaking Pugsley's hand.

"That's not true! You're a million things, Pugsley. Different? Sure, but not in a bad way. It's nice to be different, and it's nice to be able to discover all your ‘absurd’ sides, or whatever you call them.
You're so much more than that. You're kind, funny, pretty. And I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it."
Pugsley finally looked at him, his eyes glowing in the moonlight, and maybe, just maybe, he found himself hoping that those words wouldn't be lost in the air at the end of the evening. He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.

"Do you really think i am... pretty? You're not joking, is not like now Chuck is going to come out with a banner saying
‘You fell for it!’, right?"
Eugene chuckled softly. 

“No joke, I promise. I think you're the prettiest boy i've ever seen.”
And with that, he stood up and held out his hand. Pugsley looked at it confusedly, tilting his head slightly.

"Well? Didn't I promise you a dance?" 
Eugene smiled.
Pugsley smiled and took his hand.

“Let's see what you've got bee boy.”
Pugsley smiled while his fingers intertwined with Eugene's, while Eugene's free hand rested in a natural way on Pugsley's hip and Pugsley's other arm rested on Eugene's shoulder.
The two danced there, guided by the muffled harmony coming from the hall, with steps that were a little clumsy but full of genuine childishness and purity. Pugsley spun around after Eugene raised his arm, then they reunited together, swaying slowly back and forth listening to the melody of their hearts, their faces growing closer and closer. 

Eventually, even the silent harmony that surrounded them quieted, leaving the two boys standing still in front of each other, their eyes meeting and exploring each other with a single glance. 

Then Pugsley placed his hands on Eugene's shoulders, connecting their foreheads. Eugene placed his hands on either side of his face, caressing his cheeks with his thumbs in circular motions. 
They looked at each other again, perhaps for too long, then Eugene's eyes rested on Pugsley's lips.

“May I?”
he asked softly, almost in a whisper, as if he might ruin the moment.

“Yes, please.”

And Eugene closed the space between them, gently placing his lips on Pugsley's, then slowly removing his hands from his face and placing them gently on his hips. Pugsley reciprocated, his eyes glowing in the moon's light.

He found peace.

And the boys remained full of their love, united throughout the night, in each other's company.