Chapter Text
A soft sigh was heard from behind Wednesday, who was sitting at her typewriter and working on her latest novel. She had been wanting to at least get another chapter of her novel out by the end of the week, but as things were progressing, that already seemed to be out of the question. Her fingers paused over the typewriter as she forced herself to turn around and glare at her roommate’s nauseatingly colourful side of the room.
“Enid, this is the third time in five minutes that you’ve made that noise. Cease it at once.”
“Sorry,” Enid mumbled, barely glancing at her. Giving another sigh, the werewolf flopped down onto her bed and rolled over to face the wall, eyes downcast but obediently staying quiet.
Wednesday eyed her carefully, noticing how she was fidgeting with the hem of her sweater and overall seemed more uneasy than usual. They had known each other for quite a long time, and Wednesday prided herself on knowing Enid well enough to sense when something was bothering her, even if it was just a small matter. This time however, it was blatantly obvious that something was wrong.
For starters, their room was completely silent, devoid of the usual ear-splitting pop music and endless chatter, not to mention the fact that Enid, who practically radiated sunshine, looked as though someone had stolen all her plushies and dumped her in a pit of scorpions (which Wednesday herself would find quite pleasant, but that was besides the point). Although Wednesday would never admit it aloud, she had gotten kind of used to Enid's noise and fun, and without it, the room felt kind of cold. In any case, it just wasn’t like her at all, the bubbly girl could never stay silent for more than a minute before starting to talk, whether it was about new gossip or what she ate for breakfast.
But since Wednesday had a chapter to complete, she decided to push all thoughts of her roommate to the back of her mind and returned to her writing, the typewriter making small clicking noises that seemed to be amplified ten times as echoes through the silent room. After some time of writing, she read back on what she had written and let out a sigh of her own. From the typos and grammar mistakes, it was evident that her thoughts were still stuck on a certain Enid Sinclair due to the previous irritating sighs she had been letting out, and totally not because she was worried about her.
Thing hopped up onto the typewriter in front of Wednesday. Go ask her what’s wrong, it’s obvious that you want to, he tapped out, his index finger moving up and down in Enid’s direction.
Wednesday eyed him with disdain, scowling. “I do not. In fact, I find the absence of noise to be a blissful reprieve from the usual chaos in here. I certainly do not harbour any sort of care for that multicoloured werewolf.”
I never said you cared for her, Thing tapped, and somehow even though he didn’t have a face, Wednesday had a distinct feeling he was smirking at her. She ignored his frantic tapping and threw him into a drawer, shutting it with a decisive bang.
It was ridiculous to even think that she actually cared for someone, but as she analysed Enid’s slumped posture from across the room, she began to realise that the hand had a point. She should go ask Enid what was wrong, just to satisfy her curiosity.
Having made up her mind, she walked over to Enid, taking great care not to touch any of the colourful objects scattered on the ground. Usually by now, the werewolf would have tackled her down and started blabbering about something she had seen online, but even after getting right to the edge of the rainbow bed, she still didn’t notice her.
“Enid.”
The werewolf jumped slightly at her name being called, turning around to come face to face with Wednesday, whose face was blank but eyes slightly curious with another emotion that looked suspiciously like concern. Enid avoided her gaze and her voice was noticeably lacking its usual cheer when she spoke. “Oh, hey, didn’t see you there. Is something the matter?”
“I should be asking you that instead.” Wednesday raised her eyebrow. “Today you are being… less obnoxious than usual.”
Enid snorted humorlessly. “Aww, is the great Wednesday Addams concerned about her little old roommate? Here I was thinking I’d die and you wouldn’t even notice,” she joked half-heartedly.
Wednesday certainly wasn’t entertained. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Enid finally looked up at the other girl, and Wednesday was slightly taken aback by the tears glistening in her eyes.
“I…” Enid hesitated, her tone wavering slightly. “It’s nothing really. My mother just doesn’t want me home for the holidays, she told me that I’ll have to stay at Nevermore because I’m a disappointment to the pack. Well, not that she’s wrong, after all-”
“No,” Wednesday cut her off sharply. She felt a sharp stab of anger in her chest, to think that someone would say that about bubbly, bright and clever Enid was simply unthinkable. “You’re not a disappointment.” Her words were louder than expected, escaping out her mouth before she could stop it and slicing through the tense atmosphere of the room. The vehemence of it even shocked herself, it was the most emotion she had shown in front of someone for quite some time.
“Oh,” was the only response Enid could form as she averted her gaze, a pink blush high on her cheeks. “You really think so?”
“Enid. If anyone is a disappointment here, it’s your mother for treating you so badly,” Wednesday said firmly, her tone leaving no room for argument. Enid had told her several things about her family before, but it had all been without going into detail. Hearing that Enid’s mother had been so hurtful, she felt an unexplainable cold fury on behalf of Enid, accompanied by a strange urge to comfort the werewolf.
A thankful smile spread across Enid’s face, still not her usual grin, but good enough. “Thanks, that made me feel better. You’re a good friend, Wends.”
The corner of Wednesday’s mouth twitched up in an almost-smile. Before she had time to process what she was saying or consider the potential consequences, a few words slipped out from her mouth. “You can come with my family for the break.” Oh shit.
Enid froze, whipping around to face her. “What?” She blinked at her roommate as though she had grown three heads. And if you had told Wednesday one year ago that she would offer to bring someone, let alone Enid, along on a holiday, she would honestly have thought growing three heads was more possible.
Wednesday was already starting to regret it, but it was no time to back out now. “Your eloquence never fails to surprise me, Sinclair. I was saying that if you choose to do so, you could come with my family on holiday. I’m sure my parents would love it,” she affirmed, grimacing slightly at the thought of her over-enthusiastic parents overwhelming Enid with their hospitality. But then again, that was probably what Enid needed right now, considering the whole mess with her own parents.
“Wait, seriously?” Enid asked again in disbelief. “You mean it?”
She looked at her roommate with practical sparkles in her eyes, vaguely reminiscent of a very excited puppy dog that had just been given a bone. Wednesday caught the corners of her mouth twitching up in a small smile and quickly rearranged her face into a neutral expression. That was not cute at all, she reminded herself stoically.
“Yes. But seeing as you’re not interested, I’ll go back to writing my novel.” She turned around and started to organise the pages of her novel.
“No, no! I’m interested!” Enid squealed, her previously bad mood completely forgotten. It was certainly not every day that Wednesday Addams would make such a proposition, and she was not one to pass it up. “Where would we be going?”
“This year we’re going to France. Just pack your stuff and my parents will handle the rest,” Wednesday replied shortly, not wanting to face Enid. There was something about the taller girl’s smile that made Wednesday’s heart flutter unpleasantly and an unknown feeling rise in her chest. And it wasn’t the type of unpleasantness that she liked.
“Oh my gosh, Wends, you’re the best! Thank you!” Enid, brimming with happiness, was about to launch herself on Wednesday for a hug, but stopped just in time with her arms still stretched out wide. “Still not a hugger, got it.” She smiled sheepishly and retracted her arms.
Wednesday felt a bit of… disappointment. The feeling she previously only got if she had missed a prime opportunity to torture someone, or if her target had gotten away. A small part of her had wanted to feel how it was like to have Enid’s warm arms around her, although she would rather die than admit it. She didn’t know what the cause of this feeling was, but she did know that she had to avoid it at all costs.
“Go away now, Enid. You’re taking up my hour of writing time. And if you call me that horrendous nickname one more time, I’ll make sure it’s the last word that ever comes out of your mouth,” Wednesday threatened without her usual venom.
“Gotcha. I’ll go tell Yoko the good news!” Enid gave her a blinding smile and sped off.
Alone in the room, Wednesday still could not focus on her novel. She had no idea what had possessed her to invite Enid along on the trip. Her parents would be delighted, naturally, as Wednesday never had any friends before, but Enid caused her to feel things she had never felt before, and she didn’t know what to do about that. Because if there was anything she was bad at, it was feelings.
Wednesday was in deep shit.