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Wendy was in a bad mood.
Well, that wasn’t unusual. She was almost always in some kind of bad mood, as being morose was her default. However, today she was particularly low, though for a reason that even she recognized as silly.
Wendy had played with Webber today.
Normally this had the opposite effect to now. She enjoyed her time with the boy and had fun during their games, especially when they lasted a while. Sadly, though, today had only been for a very brief period of time, likely only around half an hour (though it was hard to tell) before something distracted him away, leaving Wendy unsatisfied and much more bored than she would’ve been had Webber never asked anything of her.
Talking to her sister was helpful, even if Abigail wasn’t exactly able to easily talk back beyond faint whispers that were still difficult to understand. She was always amused when Wendy talked about the things she had done with Webber, and Wendy never tried to understand why. Even now, when Wendy was just talking about how unsatisfied she felt, Abby was still quietly giggling at her sister’s misfortune.
“You’re insufferable,” Wendy muttered, which only seemed to please her more. Wendy wasn’t being serious, of course; in all honesty, she was already feeling a bit better talking about this silly little feeling. Abigail wasn’t too good at talking anymore, but she could always be counted on to listen to the mundane issues Wendy found throughout her eternal survival.
“Hey, Wendy!” Called a voice that made her jump. She had completely zoned out and not even noticed that Webber was practically right in front of her. He had a wide smile on his face, though he seemed… a little hesitant about something or other, the way he was fidgeting with his hands for a few seconds.
Wendy didn’t ponder for long on what he could be about to do, however, as suddenly Webber leaned in and whispered into her ear.
“We love you!”
And then he just ran off, smiling as though nothing had happened.
Wendy stared at the space he had just left, blinking rapidly. Did Webber just… confess to having feelings for Wendy? Why had he done it so casually? Webber did generally prefer to do things simple, she knew that, but she didn’t think he would just… throw that at Wendy and then run off like it was just a normal interaction.
Did he even mean it in the way she assumed? Or was it just a thing with friends? Was he dared to do it, maybe? Or trying to mess with her? What would even prompt someone to be that… normal about this? How could she even react?
Abigail was trying to get her attention, likely to ask whatever Webber could’ve possibly said that could shut Wendy down so thoroughly, but Wendy could hardly think. The only response she could muster up was, “I don’t know,” earning a confused tilt from the ghost.
Wendy sat down and stared down at her legs. Webber had… said that he loved her. He had said it in a bit of a playful tone, as though he was teasing her, or maybe… flirting? Was that how it worked? She felt heat on her face thinking about it.
She looked over at Abigail, who was still patiently waiting to hear about what had happened. Part of her wanted to keep it all to herself in order to maybe forget about it, but she also knew that her sister wouldn’t forget about something that made Wendy react this way that easily.
“Webber…” she muttered, “He told me…” Wendy hesitated, her heart going much too fast. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, and forced her voice to go as flat and emotionless as possible in order to be able to talk. “He just said ‘I love you,’ and then ran away. I don’t know what to even-“
Before Wendy could finish her sentence, she heard what could only be described as a ghostly squeal, as Abigail began spinning around, looking very pleased about what she heard. Abigail then began to say something that Wendy could not understand for the life of her, though in this case she felt like that was probably a good thing.
Of course Abigail was acting like this. She was always excited to hear about Webber and Wendy’s escapades, and this was why, wasn’t it? She wanted to see Wendy love someone other than her, and Webber was someone who she always seemed to find herself with. It wasn’t like the idea that he would feel this way was completely unexpected, but the way he did it…
“I don’t know what to make of it,” Wendy told Abigail after she finished her excited reaction, “I’m not sure if he was being serious, or if he meant what I assume he meant, or why he chose to say it that way if he did mean it… it feels so complicated.”
Abigail made some kind of sound like she was thinking, and seemed to have some kind of idea, but was unable to communicate it, to Wendy’s disappointment. Wendy knew asking for ideas wouldn’t work, so she had to come up with her own on what to do now.
Eventually, Wendy made a decision. The decision was that she was unable to make a decision, so she would wait and try to pretend nothing happened, or at least until she figured out whether Webber was even being serious or not.
Perhaps it wasn’t the most elegant of solutions, but surely it would at least make things easier? All she would have to do is act the same as she always had, what could possibly go wrong?
Turns out, a lot could go wrong. Trying not to think about Webber’s words when her time was constantly spent near him was rather difficult, and it was a little difficult to pretend she was never thinking about it.
Plus, Wendy couldn’t really… act normal, anymore. It felt strange, now, and the best she could manage was to be curt and polite with him, and keep her distance when she could. Perhaps not a very nice thing to do, but if Webber noticed he didn’t seem to mind, so it would be fine.
She hated how she kept thinking about his voice, so cheerful and excited, whispering words that left her frozen and feeling so conflicted. Why couldn’t she just forget about it and let things go on the way they always had? Love wasn’t good for her anyway.
As Wendy sat on a log, a few days after the little interaction, her mind began to wander. Thoughts of the conversation began to make way for more general thoughts about the spider boy who had sparked this spiral in the first place.
Wendy didn’t often think about what her feelings towards Webber were. It wasn’t a big deal, just two friends who played games together, and they never needed to be any more. Any other thoughts were quickly drowned out by whatever else she found to occupy her attention.
The only person who ever seemed to ask Wendy about her relationship with Webber was Abigail, and while she was definitely invested in the idea of them being together, Wendy was always able to avoid talking about exactly what she felt thanks to the lack of actual speech on part of her sister. Anyone else who cared would ask Webber first, since he was generally much more open than her.
She had only found out that anyone else even cared very recently, when Webber was trimming his beard with Wilson and she overheard him casually mentioning “how things were going” with Wendy. She quickly avoided that conversation, as eavesdropping on a talk about her would have been rude.
Wendy didn’t want to think about the fact that everyone seemed to think there was obviously something going on between her and Webber. Because if she did, then she would have to either confirm or deny it.
If what she felt was love, then that would mean that she had gotten attached. If she was so attached to someone, then she ran the risk of being hurt again. As long as she didn’t have to think, she would be fine, because having a friend was good enough, and wanting more would be a recipe for disaster.
But now she was forced to think about Webber as a potential partner, rather than simply a good friend to play games with. She had to ask herself if she really did love him.
As she kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking some more, she noticed a presence approaching her.
Speak of the devil, Webber came over and sat down right next to her.
Was he annoyed about her lack of response to his declaration? Was he about to ask her to answer it properly? He wasn’t saying anything, but maybe he was just waiting for her? It had only been a few days, neither of them had forgotten about it and they knew it.
Wendy felt her heart race. A part of her wanted to say something, but the other part wanted Webber to leave immediately. But he didn’t. He just seemed to be waiting for Wendy.
She looked down at Webber’s hand. It was just far enough away from his body that it looked like he might have been reaching out, or trying to get Wendy to hold it, but it was also close enough that she couldn’t tell. It was all so uncertain. Maybe he was still trying to gauge her reaction?
Her own hand twitched, as though it wanted to reach out but was being held back… or perhaps, it wanted to stay still but was being compelled forward. She couldn’t just reach out like that, of course not, not with the tension in the air.
“Are you waiting for something?” Wendy asked after a few moments, causing Webber to look away.
“Um, no,” he muttered, “We just… wanted to sit here, that’s all! But if you don’t want us to…”
Webber was a terrible liar. Obviously he was waiting for her to bring up the talk, so he could hear how she actually responded. But she didn’t want to talk. Love was a commitment she would never be able to handle. If there was anyone (alive) to whom she could try to commit so strongly, it would be Webber, but… the last time she cared so much about anyone, she ended up a ghost, leaving Wendy in a horrible state that she still hadn’t fully recovered from.
Even if Wendy loved him, even if she could be with him, she would only end up worse off when, inevitably, something caused an end to it. Why did it have to be so difficult?
Wendy would never ask to lose a moment with the boy, but the idea that one day these memories would be bitter instead of cherished was so terrifying that she just couldn’t bring herself to say what she knew he wanted to hear.
“We’ll just… go, then…” Webber was standing up? Wait. He was about to leave. He hadn’t even asked about anything, though! He was really just going to go without ever bringing it up at all? It felt so… premature. Would he really let her dance away from the topic forever?
Before Wendy could process, she grabbed Webber’s arm and looked up at his face. His eyes were wide, shocked yet hopeful, as he looked back down, unmoving.
For a moment, the two stared at each other, neither daring to move or breathe, just waiting. Waiting once again.
“Yeah?” Webber asked, breaking the silence after a few seconds.
Wendy didn’t even know why she had done that. It was just on instinct. She saw him leaving and just… wanted to stop him from doing so…
She felt her face heating up again, so after taking a second to find her composure, Wendy flatly told him, “You don’t need to leave. I don’t mind having you here at all.”
Webber only replied with a nod, slowly sitting back down. Wendy’s hand, still clinging to Webber, slowly made its way down to his own hand, where it remained for a while.
It felt so soft, so warm… suddenly, Wendy felt like she could be here for a very long time and be fine. There was still a small amount of lingering anxiety, but the feeling of Webber’s hand soothed her soul.
Her mind was still lingering on the feeling of his hand, but her mouth was not, and before she could think, she had let slip a barely audible “I love you too.”
She felt Webber jump a little bit, before he began to feign ignorance, replying, “What did you say? We couldn’t hear you…”
Wendy also paused after her words. She just… she just said it. She admitted it. She was attached. Obviously, deep down, she already knew this, but a large part of her always wanted to keep it hidden, not able to be acted upon or acknowledged. But now, she had said it. She did love him. Of course she did. Of course he would get her to let her guard down enough to not think about it.
And now, he was asking her to say it again.
“Stop lying,” she muttered. “I know you heard me.”
“No, no, we really didn’t!” He lied. “What did you say?”
“I’m not going to be able to say it again,” she replied.
Webber didn’t do anything. After a pause, he released his hold on Wendy’s hand, causing her spirits to shrink for a moment, but they came back up when he moved his hand to her shoulder.
“Please?” He whispered.
Wendy was powerless. Webber was so good at making her unable to think or reason her way out of something, just by being his cute self. She never stood a chance in her attempts to keep her mind off of his love. If he had willed it, she would have already said all of this a long time ago.
Wendy leaned into Webber, unable to resist any longer. Her head resting on his shoulder, she looked up and saw eight very close puppy dog eyes staring back at her.
She could never truly say no to him, could she?
“I love you too,” she repeated, a little louder this time.
Webber didn’t say anything for a few seconds, before breaking out into a wide, triumphant grin and declaring, “Yesssss! We knew it!”
Wendy didn’t get another word in before Webber wrapped his arms around her and practically fell backwards, saying some words that Wendy couldn’t process.
“Slow down!” She exclaimed, a small laugh leaving her voice as she did so. “I can’t understand anything you’re saying.”
“Ehe… right,” Webber giggled, slowly sitting back up. “We’re just… excited? We were kinda hoping we didn’t mess anything up for a while there.”
Wendy frowned. “I’m sorry about that. I just… was thinking. A lot.”
Webber shrugged. “Yeah, we kinda figured it was something like that! We’re sorry too, for kinda just… dropping that on you?” He scratched his head. “We thought it would be easier if we just didn’t make it a big deal. And it was, for us! But… probably not for you, right?”
Wendy nodded, but then paused. “I suppose it isn’t all bad, though. We did get there, after all.”
They fell silent. Well, mostly. Webber took to humming a tune after a few seconds, and Wendy was content just listening, until it ended and Webber spoke up.
“We think we should tell Abigail about this! She couldn’t stop acting all excited after we told you.”
Was she acting like that? Wendy had been too lost in her own head to tell. “Is that how you knew I didn’t hate you?” Webber laughed, but didn’t answer, which was basically a yes.
Wendy sighed and looked at Abigail’s flower, attempting to call her out, only to realize…
“OoOooo!”
Abigail was outside the entire time, hiding and eavesdropping. When she floated back to the pair, she circled them happily, making some ghostly sounds that were likely an attempt at teasing.
“Abby heard everything, didn’t she?” Webber asked sheepishly, with the ghost responding with an enthusiastic nod.
Wendy looked down at her lap, mortified that someone saw her at such an intimate moment. Even if it was her sister, it still felt like a bit of an intrusion.
She looked over at Webber. He didn’t seem to mind as much, save for a mild amount of embarrassment. So perhaps there actually was no issue, and Wendy was just looking for an excuse to feel bad about a moment that she knew was going to live in her head for a long time.
Abigail interrupted Wendy’s internal monologue by suddenly pushing her into Webber when their eyes met, causing their faces to hit each other.
It wasn’t quite a kiss, but it was close enough that it made Wendy lose her composure for about half a minute, before eventually glaring at Abigail and saying in a low growl, “Traitor.”
This elicited a giggle out of both Abigail and Webber, the former taunting her and the latter sounding more like he was also stunned. Before Wendy could do any more, Abigail went into her flower and took a rest, leaving Wendy alone with Webber once more.
“So…” Webber began after a second, “Are we, um, together? Now? That’s how it works, right?”
Wendy looked back at him. His eyes were eager again, and he was leaning in, waiting for her to answer.
“I suppose so,” she replied, a small smile on her lips as she also scooted over. “Abigail would have a field day with me if we weren’t.”
Truth be told, she knew next to nothing about how this worked either, but if it was what Webber wanted, it would be difficult to refuse, especially when, deep down, she wanted it just as much.
She could never say no to that face. She leaned in a little closer in order to see every detail.