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If this were happening under different circumstances, she’d totally be swooning right now.
They’re running side by side through the back side of Nevermore, through the grass and trees down to Eugene’s bee shed. Her hair falls freely down her back, flying around her, and she briefly meets his eyes, sees that sparkle in them and a grin that makes her stomach swoosh around.
It’s this sweet sort of thing that reminds her of movies she’s watched.
Except they’re not off frockling in a beautiful field. They’re not off on some secret romantic adventure. And she’s completely regretting every life choice up until this point.
The shed is within distance now. It’s a good thing because Enid’s lungs are burning. He came bursting out of Caliban Hall while she was waiting for him, shouting at her to follow him. So she did, obvi, and it was moments later that she understood why.
For weeks he’s been bothering her about eating just one bug, promising her it’d be delicious. Enid has doubts, mostly because it sounds super disgusting. But like the majority of people, they’d think the same thing!
Something in her gave up and she - reluctantly, very reluctantly - agreed to give it a try. And if she was hoping he’d forget about it completely, well, who can blame her!?
They’re running so fast they nearly ram themselves into the door. Pugsley slams the door behind them and she stumbles back, panting heavily. Her hair is every which way, there's a faint line of sweat on her forehead.
“Why-” Enid is still trying to catch her breath, pushing her hair back to get it out of the way, “did ...we...do...that?”
He grins at her. She feels her eyes go wide and starts to sputter when she sees what he’s taken out of his pocket.
“Seriously?”
It’s a caterpillar, or so she thinks. It’s hairy and long and wiggling in between his two fingers. Enid’s teeth sink into her bottom lip, she nervously glances at her boyfriend.
“That’s for you...right?”
“No,” Pugsley quirks a brow and Enid swears she’s faint all of a sudden. “It’s for you.”
“What?” She squeaks. When she agreed to it - again, very reluctantly - this isn’t what she had in mind! She was thinking something small, very tiny so she can pop in quick and wash it down and erase it from her mind so she never has to think about this moment ever again. “No-”
“I got you the best one,” Pugsley says brightly. “Look at him.”
She doesn’t want to, but she does anyway, smiling weakly. “He’s...cute.”
“And juicy,” he sighs contentedly. Not really the word she’d use but okay.
Enid’s eyes dart from the creepy thing to Pugsley. “You don’t really expect me to eat that thing, right? He probably has a family who is missing him very much now so maybe you should just return him.”
“Oh, he doesn’t,” Pugsley says dismissively. “I ate them.”
“All of them?” She doesn’t want to think about Pugsley creeping up on Eugene’s terrarium in search of a midnight snack.
“Yeah,” he says dreamily. She grimaces. “They were so good.”
“Great...” She mutters and takes a deep breath. “Look, I don’t think I can do this.”
“If you’re worried he’ll catch us, we’ll be fine,” Pugsley says confidently. “I can zap him unconscious if I need to.”
“No, not that,” Enid is going to ignore that for the moment. “I don’t think I can eat it.”
She gestures loosely towards the creepy looking bug.
“You said you would,” Pugsley reminds her. He’s amused, she can tell, which is not cool.
“I know. But look at it!”
Pugsley leans against the door, crossing his arms and grins. “Come on, hermoso,” he says coaxingly. “You can do it. Just take a bite.”
Enid whines softly, covering her face. She can’t do this. She can’t.
“I’m gonna hurl! I know I will.”
“Please?” She peeks through her fingers to see him using his big brown eyes on her.
She narrows her own eyes. “You’re sick, you know that?”
If it’s not for the fact that she’s been around the Addams siblings for as long as she has, Enid swears she wouldn’t believe it when she spots a slight blush on his cheeks.
“I love you too,” he says, beaming at her.
The caterpillar thing is still on the table. Enid slowly picks it up, cringing at how it feels in her hand.
“You couldn’t have killed it first?” She’s not sure how she feels about biting into a live bug.
“No problem,” Pugsley shoots off a quick zap and the creature stops moving.
Enid jumps, yelping. When Pugsley snickers at her reaction, she lets her claws shoot out, threatening him.
“I will literally claw your eyes out.”
She growls when he leans forward in anticipation.
“You are such a pain!”
Enid looks down at the bug, swallows thickly and slowly lifts it up to take a teeny tiny bite.
As soon as it hits her mouth, she starts to gag. It’s gross. It’s so gross. Crunchy and kind of slimy and she’s going to hurl!
Pugsley watches her in fascination. Of course he does.
“So?” He says eagerly. “What do you think?”
The door bursts open. Eugene is right there, and he’s not happy.
“Where is he?” He bellows.
She can’t do this anymore. She bends forward and vomits all over the floor and Eugene’s shoes.
“Right there,” Pugsley points unhelpfully.