Chapter Text
Enid Sinclair liked to talk; this was a well established fact known by anyone who had been in the girl’s presence for longer than two seconds. She also had the unfortunate habit of speaking before fully thinking through what it was she was saying, as we all are guilty of doing sooner or later.
Her filter had actually improved a lot in recent years but, sadly, no one is perfect.
Enid had been enjoying a fairly average— not normal; never normal —dinner with the Addams family. She was seated at the corner of the table, Gomez to her right at the head, Morticia across from Enid, Pubert and Pugsley sat besides their mother, and Wednesday sitting on her left with Grandmama down past her.
Different conversations overlapped along the table. Gomez, Morticia and Enid had struck up a conversation on fencing techniques— well, Morticia and Enid were; Gomez was largely waxing poetic on what a gorgeous figure his love cut with a blade in her hand —while it sounded like the Addams siblings had begun the classic game of tossing playful insults at each other.
Enid played that game with her brothers too, but even if Wednesday and her brother’s words involved more graphic descriptions of bodily harm, she could still hear the love laced between the letters better than she could from her own siblings. So even while participating in her own conversation, the blonde still kept one ear on the verbal sparring to her left.
Some of them were a little funny after all.
“You know Wednesday,” Pugsley shot as he stabbed at a dish that Enid had longed since learned to not question the contents of, “If you’re trying to grow your hair out long enough to hang yourself with, you could just weave rope into your braid and save yourself the time.”
“I don’t take the easy way out, brother dear,” the ravenette volleyed back, spreading jellied something onto a roll, “Besides, why hang myself with my hair when I could use them for garrotes instead. Care to let me test them on you?”
Enid snickered and had to wave off a curious look from Morticia.
A few minutes passed in glorious contentment. Enid could have sighed at the warm feeling of love she felt blessed enough to witness, and even be a part of.
Then; it happened.
“–Oh be for real, Pugs,” Pubert laughed; Enid smirked as she heard him using the phrase she’d taught him. Sadly it wouldn’t last.
“–Only an idiot would be stupid enough to fall for Wednesday; she’d kill them if they even tried to woo her.”
“Hey!” Enid squawked indignantly, heading snapping to stare down the mustachioed child, “First off, your sister is a catch! And second, I am not an idiot!”
As the table slowly descended into silence, Enid realized two things.
One: Pubert had still been playing the game and hadn’t really meant anything that he had said.
Two: Enid had all but shouted out confirmation that she had fallen for Wednesday.
While the girl was sitting right next to her.
The blonde felt heat blooming behind her eyes and creeping up her neck to strangle her and the humiliation began to set in.
“Excuse me–” Enid gasped as she pushed back from the table, her chair making a horrible scraping sound, and bolted out of the dining room before anyone could move or even say anything. She ran as voices raised up behind her, through the hall, the kitchen, past a bemused Lurch— who had been enjoying a nice respite and a cup of tea —out the back door and into the night.
StupidStupidSTUPID! she berated herself as she ran, tears streaming down her cheeks. Only her night vision and the light of the dying sun allowed her to neatly dart down rows of headstones and crypts, before the cemetery gave way to the woods that took up a surprising amount of the Addams Family property.
The blonde had half a mind to wolf out right then and there, but she didn’t want to waste a second stopping to strip, and tearing through her clothes meant she would have to eventually return to the house without them and that was not happening!
She would also hate to let anything happen to the sweater she was wearing as well. After all, it had been a gift from– she choked on a sob and nearly tripped down onto her knees.
But she didn’t. She kept going.
During her visits to the Addams Family home, Enid had begun to grow familiar with the grounds that sprawled outward from the mansion itself. She didn’t know all of its secrets, but she knew enough to be able to keep from getting too lost.
One spot in particular, above all others, she had an unexpected fondness for.
It was a tree; a massive thing, sitting far away from the house in the middle of the forest, but tall enough that you could easily see one from the other. It was gray, barkless on all of its limbs and trunk, and— though it was as dead as could be —it still stood strong; more like the bone of a long gone giant than a mere plant. Its branches were gnarled and bent every which way, with notches on some that spoke of lengths of rope being tied there; ones with a noose tied at the opposite end of them. It had a rope hanging from it even now, but this one ended in a broomstick-turned-swing.
Wednesday affectionately— though she would deny such an emotion —told Enid the tree’s name was Ichabod, and Enid couldn’t help but love it. Love her.
Maybe that’s why the wolf was halfway up the tree and perched on an especially large limb before she had even realized she’d been running towards the tree the entire time. She placed her back against the trunk now riddled with a set of claw marks, wrapped her arms around her bent knees, and wept.
All of the thoughts screaming in her head were variations of: Wednesday is gonna be so mad! The family’s gonna be mad! They’ll make me leave! I don’t wanna go! I don’t I don’t I don’t!
Enid didn’t know how long she sat there— mind and heart being trampled from within —before the sound of strings erupted out of her pocket, almost causing her to topple out of the tree in shock.
Paint It Black.
Wednesday’s song.
Wednesday’s ringtone.
Wednesday was calling her.
Enid returned to the safety of her arms and let the melody play into the now darkened sky. She’d recorded her roommate playing this very song not long after they had started to become friends. And as soon as Wednesday had finally gotten herself a phone, the blonde had wasted no time in making it her ringtone for the goth.
Not that Wednesday called her very often, but still.
The instrumental chorus played through several times before finally ceasing. Enid sat there, half expecting it to ring again. It didn’t.
Barely worth the effort, a voice chided nastily in her head; two thousand miles away and her mother still had to make a comment.
The blonde jolted as her phone vibrated several times. Curiosity got the better of her and Enid pulled her phone out of her pocket, eyes wincing against the painfully bright screen.
She had a voicemail.
Wednesday had left a voicemail.
Enid pressed play and brought her phone to her ears before she could chicken out of it.
[I am not upset at you,] was the very first thing that came out through her phone’s speakers and the wolf felt like crying all over again.
[I did not like how you just left like that, but I am not mad. At you. Pubert on the other hand–] Wednesday growled lowly before inhaling, audibly trying to calm herself. [He is already upset at himself and that is the only reason I haven’t strangled him yet.]
She took several more breaths and Enid greedily listened to every one.
[I am sorry that you are upset...] she eventually continued, [–And I am even more sorry that it was my family that upset you.]
The wolf felt like howling, like screaming ‘No! They didn’t! It was me! All me! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!’
[If...If you do not wish to return to the manor tonight, I have sent a picture of a map; it shows how to find a bunker I made some years back. It-it has a bed and some food– though it’s possible it has expired; I was young when I stocked it. Please, rest there. I do not wish to have you out in the elements longer than necessary.]
The stutters, more than anything else, floored Enid. Wednesday never stuttered, was never less than one hundred percent certain with her words.
[Enid, I–] the voice through the phone started again, and the wolf refocused, [I– I will understand if you decide you do not wish to see me, or anyone else, but... I want– I need to know you are alright.] Wednesday had never sounded so... small.
She was small, but she had never felt like it.
Not like this.
[I haven’t heard any howling yet, which I’m hoping means you simply haven’t wolfed out and aren’t... So, if you could just...let me know? If you are alright?] she asked– no; begged , through the phone, [I would even accept one of those emotional icons you’re so fond of. Just... please. I need to know.]
The recording ended.
Enid blinked and felt her chest stutter.
She hit the ‘call back’ button.
Wednesday answered before the second ring.
[Eni–]
“I’m so sorry!” Enid cried, shoulders shaking, “I’m sorry– I didn’t– I didn’t mean to– I–”
[Enid, I am not upset at you, I swear,] Wednesday stated through the phone. There was a dim rustling in the background and Enid vaguely recalled hearing the same in the voicemail.
“I’m sorry–”
[–You did nothing wrong–]
“Yes I did!” the blonde’s chest heaved and ached.
[Leaving dinner early is hardly grounds for execution!] Wednesday growled, making Enid whine pathetically. She heard the psychic draw another slow breath, [I will not pretend to understand why Pubert’s words discomforted you so much, but please know that no one is upset with you. I had to threaten all of them— several times —to keep them from chasing after you; I did not think you would appreciate their frankly overwhelming concern just yet.]
They weren’t upset? Really? Enid had a hard time believing that, but Wednesday wouldn’t lie to her; not about this. Right? Still...
“I-I’m not mad at Pubert,” the blonde managed to confess.
Wednesday sighed. [...I know. I...thought you would like the chance at a scapegoat.]
What. “What?”
[A fool couldn’t have missed the cause of you leaving so abruptly, though I confess I don’t fully understand the why.] The rustling in the background of the call grew louder. [...Why, Enid? Why would you run after insinuating that–]
“Don’t!” Enid gasped, screwing her eyes shut, “Please– Please don’t say it.”
The rustling through the phone paused as the wolf felt the tickle of déjà vu in the back of her mind.
[...Why not.]
“–Because!” Enid could practically see the unimpressed look on Wednesday’s face at that answer but she couldn’t do better because she didn’t know why, much less how to explain it!
[That’s not an answer, Enid.]
“I can’t, Wends!”
[Can’t what, Enid?]
“Y-you’re gonna be ma-ad!”
“...Why would I be mad?”
Enid jolted as she realized that the voice of the other girl came, not just through her phone’s speaker, but from right below her. Jerking her head downward, the wolf’s night vision revealed the form of none other than Wednesday, standing near the base of the tree and looking up directly at Enid.
The goth lowered her phone from her own ear at the blonde’s attention and asked, almost timidly, “...Was what you said a lie?”
Enid could only stare down at her, trembling. It’d be so easy to just- shake her head, deny it; Wednesday would probably go with whatever she said even if she thought the wolf was lying.
But she couldn’t.
Couldn’t shake.
Could nod even less.
She was damned either way and completely frozen in despair.
“I can’t...” she whispered, quivering like a leaf in a storm, “You’ll be mad.”
“...Enid, I am not mad at you,” Wednesday called softly, hearing her in spite of the distance between them. “No one is mad at you, so please I just want to know if–”
“I can't lose you!” Enid wailed, cutting the ravenette off so abruptly that Wednesday actually staggered back a quarter step. “If I lose you, then I lose Thing and Morticia and Gomez and Pugsley and Pubert and Lurch and Grandmama and I can’t, Wends! I can’t!
“I can’t lose my home!”
Had Enid not already been seated she would have collapsed into a heap immediately.
Because that was it, wasn’t it?
That was what she was afraid of over everything else.
Losing Wednesday, being rejected by her in a potentially very harsh way? That would absolutely break her heart.
Losing the people she’d come to regard as her family? Her pack? People who actually seemed to care about her? That listened even when they didn’t understand what she was gushing about? Who checked in on her and comforted her when she was sad about anything and supported her no matter what?
Losing all that?
She wouldn’t survive.
She’s not even sure she would want to.
Enid curled herself even tighter into a ball, her face once more buried in her arms, phone still clutched pointlessly in one hand.
She didn’t know what to do...
“...Do you have such little faith in me? In my family? In yourself? ” Wednesday demanded, disbelief coloring every syllable so vividly that Enid couldn’t help but peek down at her again. “My family adores you, Enid. The mere suggestion that you could have feelings for me would have turned dinner into a celebration if you hadn’t run!”
“Hic– I crossed a line–”
“Enid Sinclair–” the goth growled, unintentionally making the blonde flinch, “–Since the day we met you have done nothing but respect my boundaries. Yes, you’ve poked and prodded them on occasions— and incited me to step outside of my comfort zone more than once —but you have never, ever, truly crossed them. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if I did reject your advances— if I was foolish enough to turn you down —you would accept it without question no matter how much it hurt you. Because that is how much you respect my boundaries.
“And, in all honesty...it’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you.”
Enid froze, and it felt like the world around them froze with her, the wind and woods themselves seeming to hold their breath at that quiet but sound declaration.
“Wh-what?”
“Have those gossip-gathering ears of yours finally failed, Enid?” Wednesday couldn’t help but quip. She watched as the blonde stared down at her before Enid slipped off the branch she’d been sitting on, claws digging into Ichabod’s trunk slowing her descent until her wobbly landing a scant few feet in front of the goth, phone absentmindedly tucked back into the pocket of her skirt.
“Y-you...” Enid stuttered, her eyes wide and nearly as red as her tear-stained cheeks as she stared at Wednesday, “You like me?”
“Please do not insult my affections for you by implying they can be properly conveyed by such a petty and juvenile word,” she sneered lightly even as her clenched fists trembled, “We are not in elementary school.” Enid gave a small snicker at that despite herself and Wednesday felt emboldened enough to continue.
“I like blades. I like blood. I like doing things like sneaking poison into my parents’ coffee or hanging my brothers by their toes until they scream. I like several things, Enid Sinclair–
“But I love you.”
The wolf stared at the smaller girl, her mind spinning in an endless loop.
She loves me?
She loves me.
Shelovesme!
Enid’s fast crumpling face was all the warning Wednesday received before she was wrapped up tightly in a hug that for once she did not hesitate to return.
“I love you too,” the blonde sobbed into the ravenette’s shoulder, fresh tears falling for an entirely different reason now. She felt Wednesday all but sag in her arms, as a tension she hadn’t even noticed was there bled away to nothing.
“G-good,” Wednesday intoned, her voice shaking so slightly most would have missed it, “That, that’s good.”
“...Why didn’t you say anything?” Enid wondered aloud in between trying to memorize the feel of the girl in her arms.
“Did I not just now?”
The wolf thunked her on the back with one hand without releasing the goth from their hug.
“...I...I wanted to be sure of your affections–” Wednesday stated slowly, “–before I revealed my own.”
At that Enid pulled away just enough to see the smaller girl’s face, though there was a moment where Wednesday’s arms refused to yield to the movement before they slackened.
“You wanted– you didn’t know how I felt?!”
“Until your accidental declaration at dinner? No, I did not,” she mumbled, not quite meeting Enid’s eye.
“Wha– Wednesday I’ve been crazy about you for, like, literal months!” Enid gaped, suddenly gaining the urge to shake the girl by her shoulders; how had she not noticed?! Isn’t she a detective?!
“Then why didn’t you say anything?!” Wednesday accused.
Fuck. “I-I asked you first!”
“Enid–”
“Wends–”
“–I was scared, alright?!”
“Wha-what?” Enid blinked, mouth hung open dumbly. Her mind tried to fit ‘Wednesday’ and ‘scared’ into the same sentence but couldn’t conceive of them together unless the words ‘is never’ was involved. “...Of...of me?”
Wednesday struggled to maintain eye contact— so much of her being wanted to not meet Enid’s gaze as she confessed —but she forced herself to do so.
She owed the girl that much at the very least.
“I...I didn’t want to be mistaken in exposing my affections. Not...not again. I just– I couldn’t–” Why was this so blasted hard?! “–I could not be wrong. Not again. Not after...”
Enid’s eyes widened as the dots connected in her head.
“...Tyler...” she whispered, and Wednesday’s eyes finally dropped from hers at the name. “You were afraid that– That I would–”
“I am not the most adept at ‘understanding social cues’,” the goth admitted to the blonde’s shoulder, “And you...have a tendency to shower everyone you even mildly consider a friend with affection. It makes discerning what is and is not platonic attention very difficult.”
“...So it’s my fault that I’m so affectionate that you couldn’t tell I had feelings for you?” Enid asked, eyes narrowed.
Wednesday had the foreboding feeling that a poor answer to this question would be ill-received.
“...No?”
Enid tried to keep a stern look as long as possible but eventually broke down into a fit of manic giggles that made her bow her head down onto the smaller girl’s shoulder. Wednesday looked at her like she’d lost her mind and was conflicted about how she felt about that notion.
“...Care to explain what you find so amusing,” the ravenette deadpanned after a minute of listening to the blonde snicker and chortle into her shoulder.
“Sor- he he- Sorry, W-Wends,” Enid chuckled, one arm wiping at her cheeks while the other maintained its hold around Wednesday, “I-it’s just– we’re so different b-but we –hee– we both had the exact same fear.”
At the goth’s perplexed look she elaborated, “We were both afraid that the other didn’t feel the same way.”
“Ah, of course; I can see the humor in both of us being foolish,” Wednesday nodded before cocking her head slightly. “Hm, seems Pubert may have been onto something when he questioned the intelligence of anyone who would fall in love with me.”
“Hey! I am not an idiot!” Enid bristled, “Just because I love you doesn’t mean I’m stupid! My grades are just as good as yours! ... Most of the time! That one exam soooo doesn’t count! I was up late watching a Blackpink concert, it’s not my fault time zones are a thing! And my grade was only bad ‘cause I fell asleep during the test; but every answer I did put down was right so hah! And really if anything about me should be questioned, it’s my sanity, because of all the people I could have possibly fallen for, I just had to pick the one who wouldn’t know what self-preservation is if it bit her right in the- meep!”
Enid’s words were abruptly cut off as Wednesday released her hold on the wolf only to immediately cup her face and bring her down low enough to press their lips together. The blonde blinked once before her eyes drifted shut and she melted into the kiss, her own arms drawing the psychic even closer to her. A small whine escaped her when Wednesday eventually pulled away, causing the smaller girl to actually smile.
“If I had known that that was how I could get you to stop talking–”
“Wednesday!”
As soon as Enid walked back into the manor— hand in hand with Wednesday —she was nearly sent back through the doorway when something small barreled into her legs.
“Eenie!” Pubert cried, tears already soaking the wolf’s skirt, “I’m sorry! P-Please don’t leave!”
“Wh– Ah, Bertie,” Enid cooed as she gently pushed the boy far enough away so she could kneel down and pull him into a proper hug. “It’s okay bud; you didn’t do anything wrong–”
Wow, that sounds familiar.
“Yes I did!” he wailed as the rest of the family trickled over, “I-I–”
“Did nothing wrong,” she stated firmly, pulling back enough to meet his eye while she wiped his tear-drenched cheek. “I was just being silly, that’s not your fault.”
“Foolish,” Wednesday mumbled, wincing when Enid smacked her fist into her thigh without taking her eyes off of Pubert.
“If I’m foolish then so are you, Wednesday,” the blonde growled with a grin, making the boy crack a watery grin. The goth grumbled her assent.
“Sooo, you guys good now?” Pugsley asked, from well out of striking range.
“Sí, have you realized you have succumbed to the family curse yet?” Gomez asked lightly.
“The what now?”
“Father!”
“Gomez.”
“What?!” the man shrugged, caught between the equally terrifying gazes of his daughter and wife, “Tish we’ve been waiting for this for months, I simply wish to know if we can cease beating around the bush and start planning the wedding , that’s all!”
“You two knew?!” Wednesday accused, taking a step towards the pair. Enid’s hand on her wrist stopped her.
“Wends, what is he talking about?” the blonde asked softly as she stood up.
“...Members of the Addams family–” the goth glared at her father for this particular ‘trait’; he had the gall to grin and shrug off his involvement, “–Are cursed in such a way that when they fall in love, they become incapable of causing any harm to the one they love. ...Physically at least.”
Enid’s eyes widened, “Cyanide in my coffee...”
Wednesday nodded.
“...You have a whole-ass curse that clues you in to when you’ve fallen in love and you still waited this long to tell me?!”
“The curse doesn’t care if the love is unrequited or not, so yes !”
“Wednesday!”
“Sorry- can we go back to the part where Dad already wants to plan your guys’ wedding?” Pugsley asked.
“We’ll talk about the wedding in a bit, first I want to–” Enid froze. “...Oh no...”
“Ah ah ah– Nope!” Wednesday snapped as she latched onto Enid’s wrist before the blonde could even take half a step back. “Enid Sinclair don’t even think about running again!”
The wolf let out a long high pitched whine.
“No! I am not dragging you back out of Ichabod every time you say something mildly embarrassing!” she growled. “You imply that you want to get married? I already know what song I want played for our first dance and have several wedding dresses drawn up— half of which are pink —so quit assuming you are the only one head over heels in love in this relationship!”
“Eeeeeeeeee,” Gomez squealed happily as he and Morticia looked at the pair fondly, while Pugsley and Pubert made mild gagging noises.
“Dibs on baking the cake!” Grandmama crowed while Lurch groaned his consent.
Wednesday blinked and realized what she had just said and who she had said it in front of.
“...On second thought, it’s a lovely night for a stroll,” she drolled, cheeks darkening by the second. “Let’s go, Enid.”
“Way ahead of you,” the blonde squeaked as she dragged them both back out into the night, amidst the family’s protests.
Their words fell on deaf ears as the pair began racing back through the cemetery they’d just come back through; each holding the other’s hand and grinning.
Just two girls happy and in love.
And only slightly embarrassed about it.