Chapter Text
Dear Pugsley,
It’s been three weeks since we packed our trunks in Caliban Hall & moved home for the summer… We never discussed your summer plans… I hope you’ll have the time to take my offer to come stay here.
I can’t promise it would be more exciting than an Addams Family vacation, -I do have a very interesting summer study project in the works-, but I can promise to show you around my town, the forest behind my moms cottage, and the best spots to find bugs out there, if you do come.
You could stay as long or as short as you’d like.
write me back,
your friend, Eugene.
Eugene groaned and crumpled up the paper he was writing on, holding the ball over his head to toss it in the trash next to his desk, before pausing and immediately smoothing it back out across the surface to re-read. He mentally cursed Pugsley for not owning a phone, or even an email, that would make this whole process a lot easier. It was hard enough to sit with the embarrassment of putting pen to paper, let alone trying not to sound completely desperate.
If only he had known all those months ago, when Wednesday first joined the Hummers, how alike him and Pugsley really were. Wednesday told him he reminded her of him. At the time he didn’t know how true the comment rang, then after her insistence to stick by his side and “watch over him” for the school year, it was only a matter of time before the two boys clicked together like puzzle pieces.
Eugene rubbed his hand over his eyes again and sighed. It seems with most things in his life, Eugene was the last person to realize what was good for him. He felt horrible for how he treated Pugsley for the majority of the school year; he was determined to make it up to him. Pugsley was a real shot at a true lifelong friend.
The crumpled paper stared back up at him as a reference as he pulled another page out of the notebook on his desk to start over. He held his breath as he began again.
Pugsley,
Come visit me this summer, here at my mothers’ cottage. I need an extra hand with my summer project, and it would be nice to have my friend around. Write me back, or even better, join the modern age of technology so I can reach you better.
Eugene
Before he could overthink it, Eugene folded the page in thirds and stuffed it in an envelope, addressed to the Addams mansion.
———
Just three days after he sent his letter to Pugsley Addams, Eugene had just dozed off at his desk when he was startled awake by something tapping at his window. He straightened his glasses and leaned towards the pane, his eyes focusing on what appeared to be a bird, with a small scroll of paper tied to its leg with a black string, sitting on his windowsill outside. Eugene rolled his eyes and let out a small laugh in disbelief.
“Oh, you are so lucky I’m not afraid of birds” he said as he gingerly slid the window open, trying not to startle his new mailman. The pigeon regarded him calmly and bobbed through the window as soon as it was open wide enough to slide through. It fluttered its wings to the floor, took a look around the room, then took flight again, settling on Eugene’s desk. It looked at him expectantly, then gently nudged the small scroll with its beak, as if Eugene didn’t get the idea already.
“Hey there little buddy” Eugene regarded the bird as he approached his desk. “What have you got for me?” He continued, as he slipped the string free from around the bird's leg. The scroll fell to the desk and the pigeon fluttered its wings again, taking a new perch at the top of his computer monitor, looking very pleased with himself. Eugene huffed again, watching the carrier pigeon make himself at home as he unrolled the small piece of paper.
Eugene, if you wanted to reach me sooner you should have used something faster than snail-mail. This is one of Wednesday’s pigeons, Beaks.
I’ll always come to you when you ask for help. I’ll pack my trunk tonight. It’s what friends do.
It's great to hear from you.
Pugsley Addams
The note had doodles all along the margins- skulls, lightning bolts, a little black cat, Eugene imagined him writing the scroll out at his desk at home. The lines looked as if they had been written independently over time, like he was getting his thoughts together in between doodles. He had seen Pugsley's school work, and this was something different, and clearly something he put time and thought into. The thought made his ears hot as his fingers fidgeted with the curled paper, eyes tracking down to his own desks trash can, still brimming over with crumpled unsent letters.
“I’ll pack my trunk tonight.”!? Eugene’s heart picked up as he looked around his room, his brain immediately cataloguing everything that needed to be done before his friend arrived. He himself had barely started unpacking from school.
Just then Beaks made a soft sound, drawing attention back to himself before gliding down from the monitor, landing on the desk and immediately fussing with the pencil laying there. The pencil flicked under his beak and rolled off the side of the desk, clattering to the floor.
“Dude. Not helping” Eugene scolded the bird, picking the pencil up off the floor. He brought his head up just in time to see Beaks grab the edge of his open notebook pages and start to tear a strip of paper away. Eugene paused at eye level with the bird destroying his notebook, then looked at the pencil in his hand.
“Oh. Okay, yeah, sure. I bet you want to go home. I’m being bossed around by a bird. Perfect.” Eugene waved his hands over the desktop to dissuade Beaks as he stood to slide into his desk chair. Beaks returned to comfortable silence, looking back at him expectantly, bobbing his head but sitting patiently all the same. He looked at the time- 12:18 am. “Okay, okay, I’ll hurry.”
Pugsley, I like Beaks, but a phone call would work too. I’d rather you wake me up than a bird at the window.
When will you be here? I’ll have my moms send an extra bed to my room.
Eugene
Eugene didn’t pause to re-read his note this time, he just rolled it into a tight scroll and fastened it to Beaks’ leg, a small smile playing at his lips the whole time. He offered Beaks a small grub from one of his terrariums, which he gobbled up immediately. The pigeon bobbed his head at Eugene once more, then fluttered up to the windowsill, ducking through and immediately taking flight on the other side, easily slipping away into the midnight darkness. Eugene tucked himself into his bed, grateful to have been spared another accidental night's sleep at his desk. “I’ll always come to you”. Eugene sighed and pulled the blankets tighter around himself, dozing off quickly.
———
A cool breeze swathed through the still cracked window and filled the room as the early morning light danced through the leaves outside, casting shadows and patterns of light on the wall of Eugene’s childhood bedroom. Eugene's mind drifted as he pulled his cocoon of blankets even tighter, lavishing in the warmth and comfort of his bed. His head was so warm. What? Eugene blinked his eyes open slowly and took a deep waking breath. His head was really warm.
“What the”- Eugene’s hand flew up from under the covers to touch his hair, only to find Beaks nestled neatly into his curls, like he had been nesting there a while. Eugene huffed at the audacity and splayed his hand through the sheets next to his pillow to retrieve his phone and glasses. With one hand he slipped on his frames and with the other he unlocked his phone's camera, documenting the moment. “Alright! Parties over beaks!” Eugene used both hands to reposition the bird to his lap as he sat up in bed. The bird ruffled his feathers as Eugene set him down, shaking off the touch, then stuck out his leg to reveal another scroll. Eugene felt his ears go warm again as he untied the note and unfurled it.
Good morning, Eugene
I told Beaks not to wake you this time, I hope you slept well. I’ll be there tonight, so I can be the one waking you up tomorrow. I’m glad that you prefer me to Beaks.
Pugsley 🖤
With each line of the note, Eugene felt the warmth in his ears grow and spread across his face in flush.
“Eugene honey?” His mother called from the other side of the door, knocking for good measure before cracking the door. Eugene crammed the note under his pillow as Beaks spooked to the rafters from the sudden movement. Eugene’s mother poked her head through the cracked door, quietly regarding Beaks with wonder, but not surprise, before speaking again to her wide-eyed son. “I heard some noise, are you okay?”
“Oh! Yeah, uh- that’s Beaks, he surprised me is all… Oh, mom, can you send the guest bed up here today? Pugsley is coming to stay for a bit.” Eugene’s mom stepped more fully through the door, leaning back on the frame to talk to her son while considering his words.
“Sure darling, that’s great news.” She smiled as her eyes drifted back up to the carrier pigeon, now making more sense having looped the Addams family into this scene. “Just wait till mom hears we’ll be a family of four for a while, she’s going to be so excited to cook for someone new.” She slipped out of the room and clicked the door shut behind her, as Eugene silently thanked her for not having an over the top reaction. He quietly slid the note back out from under his pillow. The little black heart seared into the back of his brain as he looked at it, the blush creeping back into his face. Eugene got up from his bed and tucked the scroll into his bedside drawer, right next to the other one. He grabbed another grub from one of his terrariums and enticed Beaks down from his perch in the rafters. The pigeon took the bug and one look at Eugene, then left through the same open window he broke in through. Eugene huffed at the abrupt exit but was semi-relieved that the bird didn’t make him write back again. He shut the window.
He walked back across his room, eager to get the place ready for his roommate to join him. He pushed his nightstand and twin sized bed away from the center of the room. Man, I’ve really grown since going off to Nevermore. He thought to himself, regarding the small, but very comfortable, bed. He quietly hoped Pugsley wouldn’t mind his small room as he moved the other bedside table to the other side of the room, making room for a second bed alongside his, with room to walk and a table on either side. It’ll have to do, I guess thought Eugene, looking around his small space for a different idea. Hoping again to himself that Pugsley would like visiting his home. His desk was piled with books, his shelves full of terrariums of different specimens, everything had a place. Surely Pugsley could appreciate that, and if he really hated the layout he could just stay in the other guest bed down the hall. Eugene ignored how the last thought made him feel. He spent the morning organizing and over analyzing his space, making room for Pugsley's things and trying to imagine seeing his room for the first time. At some point his moms knocked on the door and helped move the second bed into the room. Eugene regarded the room again, it felt even smaller with the second bed, but his moms agreed that it looked good.
As the hours passed by into the afternoon, Eugene felt his anxiety creep into his chest. He didn’t understand how after only three weeks he could feel so much anticipation to see his friend. He sat down on the edge of his bed pulled out the second note Pugsley had sent him.
I’ll be there tonight, so I can be the one waking you up tomorrow.
Eugene blinked hard and took a deep breath. He could still see the little black heart on the inside of his eyelids. He fell back into his pillow, rolling over and letting his hand drop into the maybe six inch gap between the two twin beds. He rolled his head over on the pillow to look at the other side, which was… right there. Eugene couldn’t help but to imagine tomorrow's future, waking up next to Pugsley Addams side by side like this. Eugene closed his eyes again. That damn black heart was still there.