a new beginning, wavier

7. unexpected confession

darkness twisted in wednesday's stomach as a new car pulled up into her driveway.

xavier was there. at her house. in the summer.

someone else had driven him, something called an uber?

morticia, gomez, and wednesday joined together at the front steps, expecting just xavier to get out of the car. instead, puglsey walked out right behind xavier. he'd escaped summer school.
wednesday's eyes lit up but she still displayed no emotion. "pugsley, you escaped that educational alcatraz. congratulations," she said, completely ignoring xavier. he gave her a hey what about me look.

"my son! you are a mastermind!" gomez chanted with a bright smile on his face as he suffocated his son into a bear hug. then he turned around to face xavier. "xavier thorpe! what an honor! pugsley is a great fan of your father's work." xavier glanced over at wednesday with a small smile on his face. "so i've heard."

"come, xavier, i will show you around," wednesday told her friend. the boy began to shiver as soon as he walked into the house. "gosh, is your house always this cold?" wednesday simply stared. "yes. you should get used to it if you actually do end up staying for a month." xavier crossed his arms, trying to keep warm. "what's that supposed to mean?" the side of wednesday's lip twitched. "you are not an addams. i don't expect you to last in an addams ideal environment."

"should- should i go get my stuff?" xavier asked. wednesday ignored his concern. "lurch will take care of it."
xavier sighed. "can we go somewhere warmer?" wednesday nodded. "there is a furnace in the basement. if you would like to be burned alive, be my guest."

xavier smirked. "so, i'm your guest now, huh?" wednesday found that question to be rather annoying. "no, you're like my temporary older brother." that made the boy cringe. he wanted to be so much more to her than a brother.

a figure emerged from the shadows. it was none other than fester addams. "wow! if i didn't know any better, i'd say you two look like a happy couple! the tension between you two is more than birds and bees!"
"if you say i look happy again, i will cut your body into a million pieces and burn it as an offering to your mother," wednesday told her uncle, completely ignoring his romantic implications about her and xavier.

fester frowned. "oh come on, wednesday! you never let me have any fun!" he complained. that got a chuckle out of xavier. "yeah, tell me about it. she's always so serious." wednesday flashed them both glares.

she then pulled xavier's arm, leading him up the countless stairs of the addams family house. "you will be staying here," she told xavier, pointing to a smaller room down the hall from her own. "if you are in need of assistance, i will be in my room down there. otherwise, don't come calling my name or i will cut out your eyeballs and feed them to my pirhanas."

a few hours later, after xavier had gotten settled in, a knock came from wednesday's door. she went to open it. "xavier, hello."

"your parents wanted me to let you know it's time to eat. said they're making mush," he said with the wrinkle of his nose. wednesday smiled at his uncomfort. "thank you, xavier. is that all?" his eyes flickered to the grown as a small smile spread across his lips. "do you wanna take a walk after we eat? y'know, just around the neighborhood or something?" wednesday simply nodded and shut the door. "i'll see you at dinner."

gomez, morticia, pugsley, and fester left the kitchen after dinner and it was just wednesday and xavier.

"you ready for that walk?" xavier asked his friend with a smile. wednesday got up from the table and walked over next to where he was sitting. "yes, let's go."

"so, this is where you grew up. it's cool," xavier told wednesday.
she simply continued walking next to him.
"how are your paintings coming along?"
"they're okay. not much inspiration right now though."

"am i not a good enough muse?" wednesday asked with honesty. she didn't believe she was beautiful.
xavier took her arm and stopped in his tracks, looking into her eyes. "you're a perfect muse, wednesday. you're perfect."

to his surprise, a new sound came out of the girl's mouth. a laugh. wednesday was laughing. "you lie through your teeth, xavier. i sent you to prison."

xavier shrugged. "water under the bridge right?" he asked, inching towards her.

wednesday's looked at the ground.
this could not happen.

"you're beautiful, wednesday. i wish—" xavier began. wednesday stepped away.

"unfortunately, i've come to a conclusion, xavier. i care for you. i care about you. i care about what happens to you."

xavier smiled down at her, believing he could finally be happy with wednesday. they would finally be a couple.

"so i must forewarn you: we can not be a thing."

the boy frowned. "i- i don't understand. why- why not?"

"i have a stalker, xavier. i have no clue as to who it is. they have been stalking me since i got to nevermore. you are not safe with me."

xavier shook his head. "i don't care. i'll stay with you through it all, wednesday. we care about each other. that's what matters."

he stepped closer and put his hands on her cheeks. surprisingly, wednesday didn't find him repulsing.

"i'm never giving up on you, wednesday."
xavier said as he leaned down, his lips inching closer to hers by the second.

"this is a foolish and possibly fatal mistake."

xavier shook his head. "i don't care."

and just like that, their lips met for the first time. neither of them pulled away.

their foreheads touched.

"god, wednesday, you're killing me."

"that's what i'm best at," she retorted with a smile.

she leaned in and they kissed again.

"goodnight, xavier," she whispered before fading into the darkness.