this love is good, this love is bad [wenclair]

chapter 15: this is gonna take me down

"So you girls can sleep here, Pugsley is sleeping in What's room. We changed the sheets yesterday."
Margaret walked over to the bathroom door.
"Here's the bathroom and under there, there are fresh towels."
"Thank you, Margaret."
"Thank you," Enid echoed.
"Breakfast is ready downstairs, but we understand if you want to rest a bit first."
"Actually, we got to sleep on the train, so we're fine."
"Yes, we'll be there in ten," I said.
"Perfect!" Margaret exclaimed before leaving.
"She's so nice!" Enid said once the door was closed.
"She is."
Enid put her suitcase down on her bed and opened it.
The guest room, in which Pugsley and I originally slept, consisted of two single beds with one dresser in between them, a desk on the left when you walked in, and the door to the bathroom on the right.
I walked over to her side.
"Pugsley forgot something," I said, picking up a striped sock that was in a questionable state from the floor.
"Mmmh fresh," Enid commented.
"I think I might just let it here."
I let the sock fall back onto the ground.
"Please give it back to him and keep it away from me," she chuckled while starting to unpack.
"It's okay," I said, heading to the carnage can and dropping it in it. "See? Gone."
"Oh yes, protect me from tHe sOcK!" she said dramatically as she came closer and hugged me tightly.
Someone knocked at the door. "Girls?"
I recognized Father's Spanish accent and immediately let go of Enid.
"We're coming!"
Not that much later, there was another knock, but that one came from close to the floor. Enid immediately recognized him.
"THING!"
She went to the door, opened it, and kneeled so that Thing could climb up her arm and stay on her shoulder. She put him on the desk.
"How are you?"
He signed an answer I didn't bother to look at.
"... I'm good, I'm good ... Wonderful idea! Why not? ..."
"We could go downstairs, what about that?" I interrupted.
"Are you guys fighting again?" Enid asked, disappointed.
I looked away. "Maybe."
"Do you even remember what for?"
Thing signed the answer. "Not really."

"Wednesday!"
Father hugged me.
"I can't breath."
A lie, but efficient enough since he let me go.
"Please don't suffocate our daughter, mon chéri."
Mother appeared behind him.
"Good morning, dear."
"Morning."
"Hi, Mrs. Addams."
For another full five minutes, my parents and Enid greeted each other. After that, we finally headed to the kitchen and sat down at the table. What, Pugsley and Cousin Itt were already seated, Thing was in the middle of the table (no context needed), and Margaret was still behind the counter, preparing eggs.
"Hi boys," Enid greeted.
They replied at the same moment and immediately turned to each other, before laughing.
"Didn't know you became best friends during my absence," I commented.
"And I didn't know you-"
I kicked him in the tibia under the table before he could finish his sentence. Did he already know? Mother gave me a disappointed look but didn't comment on it.
"So, Enid, how's your mother? Are her digestive problems getting better? She seemed a bit constipated last time I saw her..."
Father gave her a thud with his elbow.
"Don't Morticia," I could read on his lips.
Enid wasn't offended at all and even laughed.
"She's fine, even though that depends on your definition of fine," she replied.
"And your brothers?"
That time it was Father asking.
"They're doing well."
Margaret placed the fried eggs in the center of the table and sat down between Itt and What.
"Thing, don't! Did you even wash your hand before getting here?"
When he told her he didn't, she commanded him to do so.
"So Enid, it's Enid, right?" Margaret focused her attention on her. "It's so lovely having you here. Have you already been here in Los Angeles?"
"Actually, not in this specific area, but my older brothers like to surf and..."

Most of the time we spend 'eating' breakfast was Enid talking with Margaret. We discovered a passion for surfing we didn't know she had along the way. After we finished, Enid and I started unpacking again, and by noon we had been done for a long time. Time I spent writing, and she scrolling on whatever social media she was using, lying on her stomach on her bed. When I was done with the page I was writing, I went over to her.
"Hey you," she said with a smile, while rolling on her side and sitting up. "So what are you writing?"
I sat next to her.
"Some short stories, I got bored editing my last novel, but that way I keep writing."
She nodded. "Could I maybe read one of those?"
"Not in front of me, but yes."
Her face lit up.
"I can't wait!"
She stood up and hugged me. As it had become the rule rather than the exception, I let her.
"Yeah, whatever."
At that moment, her phone buzzed. Three times in a row. She tensed up for a second.
I just knew it was him. Who would it be otherwise? I responded to Xavier, so it couldn't be him, asking her to ask me to text him back.
"Are you okay, Wednesday?"
I placed my chin on her shoulder and shook those thoughts off. At that very moment, I was with her. And that was all that mattered.
She hugged me tighter.
"Maybe we should go downstairs, see if we can help with lunch."
I nodded, but didn't move. "Good idea."
She laughed. "We should go."
"We really should," I repeated.

~~~

Everything was weird at that point. Enid hugging me. Me letting her do it. Me not getting murderous thoughts about her doing so. I was starting to genuinely enjoy those kinds of things when they were coming from her. How she held my hand under the table during lunch, how she quickly kissed me on the cheek when my parents looked away, the way she looked at me.
"Wednesday? Wednesday, do you hear me?"
We were in our room at that moment, after having had dinner.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"Is this movie okay? It just came out, like yesterday or something."
She turned her laptop around so I could see the screen. One look at the film's cover was enough.
"No way I'm watching that, plus, I do not endorse those kinds of illegal websites."
"I thought you did endorse every kind of illegality."
"Not the kind where you don't pay for someone's creation."
"I'm not watching movies on DVD, welcome to the 21st century, Addams."
"Well, we don't have a DVD player, but we do have a cassette player. And we paid for every single cassette we have."
She seemed both disappointed and surprised at the same time.
"However, if you really want to watch that film and it's as recent as you say, we could go to the movies."
"OMG YES," she screamed in my ear.
"Please, don't ever do that again."
"Sorry," she said softly.
She kissed my cheek.
"It would be lovely to go to the cinema with you," she said kissing my cheek again.

"This time, I'm the one saying no."
Enid crossed her arms.
"This movie traumatized me as a kid."
"Don't be such a pussy!"
"What! Language!" Margaret scolded.
Thing, What, Pugsley, Enid, Margaret (but she really was only there to keep an eye on us and make sure we didn't burn the house down by making popcorn), and I were in the living room, and we had just finally chosen a decent film to watch. We were kind of having a family movie night. To be sure I had a nice spot on the couch, I had immediately sat down in the corner ten minutes prior.
"We're watching Coraline, period," Pugsley said, while sliding the cassette in.
"You did not just unironically say period."
Pugsley sat in the other corner and Thing sat on his armrest. Of course, Enid chose her spot next to me and made sure we somehow managed to preserve some sort of physical contact, and when the beginning credits appeared on the screen, she took my hand.
"This is the second and last time I'm watching this. Ever."
I squeezed her hand. "You'll survive this."