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

chapter 16: could end in burning flames or paradise

2 days later

She was holding me tight. Too tight.
"Enid? Enid."
I tried to wake her up. When Enid finally did, she loosened her grip.
She seemed confused.
"Another nightmare?"
She hummed yes and then fell asleep again almost right away. I readjusted the bedsheets and tried to sleep as well.

That time, she was the one waking up first. She yawned and stretched, and about five seconds later, I felt how she got out of the bed. And I felt her put the blanket back over me. Then I heard her footsteps moving away.
"Good morning," I said, my eyes still closed.
"Oh hi, you're up!"
She immediately came back closer, she leaned with her knee against the bed and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek.
"So how'd you sleep?" she asked with her lips still close to my cheek.
"Well, and you? You haven't had nightmares in some time, and this one seemed pretty intense."
"Did you, like, see it like that one time or..."
"Was yours about-" I tried to remember my dream. "...snakes?"
"Nope, mine was about some creepy other mother trying to sew buttons in my eyes."
"Where did you get that inspiration from?!"
"Yeah, I wonder."
She laid back in bed and placed her head under my chin. I combed through her hair with my fingers.
"But so you really didn't see my dream?" she asked again, getting somehow even closer.
I felt her hand on my lower back, under my black Lakers jersey.
"No."
"You haven't had visions and stuff in some time either."
"Yes, thank God... or whatever's up there."
"So, is it a good thing?"
"No idea," I confessed. "I don't like having them, so that suits me well."
"I get it," she said, leaving another quick kiss on my cheek and getting up again.
"Hey!" I protested, my back suddenly feeling colder.
"I don't know about you, but I'm not staying in bed all morning."
"What? What's the time?"
"Past 11 o'clock."
"Really?" I said, getting up as well, not believing it. "I really overslept."
She was leaning against the bathroom doorframe, waiting for me. It had been a ritual for us to brush our teeth together at her house, and we had done the same since day one at Itt's.
"Don't be so... - I don't know -, you're literally on vacation, Wednesday. Relax!"
I passed her by, entering the bathroom.
"Not happening anytime soon," I simply said.
She then grabbed me by the waist and made an attempt at one of those super-dramatic Hollywood kisses. I stopped her by putting a hand between our mouths at the last second.
"Morning breath."
"Do I look like I care?" Enid replied.
"Trust me; you do. I have been drinking coffee until late last night."
"Ow. Proceed," she said, gesturing to the glass with my toothbrush in it.
I saw in the mirror how she crossed her arms. "How late did you go to bed, anyway?"
After giving in and watching one of Enid's movies - again, on which she wanted me to be fully focused - again, I wrote for some time. Initially, I was planning on doing it for an hour, but I got caught up in it and completely finished editing my first novel.
"Late, I guess."

"So? What are we doing now?" Enid asked excitedly.
She was sitting cross-legged on the bed. I sat next to her.
"Well, it's too late for breakfast..." I started.
"But isn't it the most important meal of the day?" she teased.
I gave her a thud with my elbow.
"...and I still have to shower and write."
"Same, I mean, not the writing but-"
"I'll go take a shower first."
"Yeah, you should," she laughed.
"Wow. Funny."
"Isn't it?"
I pushed her back onto the bed and walked away to the bathroom.

"Your turn!" I said, walking out the door, while still buttoning up my light blue shirt.
"Nice skirt, Addams," she said, looking up from her phone.
I knew she particularly liked that blue skirt. She took her things and went to the bathroom. When my shirt was all buttoned up, I put it in my skirt. Then, I placed my typewriter on the desk and got it out of its case. But then I realized that I didn't want to write just yet, so I decided to do my nails instead. They were already painted black, but they sure needed some retouching. The little nail polish bottle was still on the desk from the last time I used it. Over time, I learned how to master the brush and finished it in less than five minutes. I only had to wait, and by the time Enid was back, my nails were dry. She had of course changed and was wearing white shorts and a dark gray tank top with an open floral short-sleeve shirt on it. She was still drying her hair off with a towel.
The bathroom was free, and I jumped at the occasion to go put on some crayon and maybe some mascara and eyeliner. She followed me back into the bathroom.
"Why makeup?" Enid asked as she hung her towel to dry.
"I'm taking you to town today."
I had made the decision while my nails were drying.
"We could go shopping, and in the evening we could go watch that movie you wanted to s-"
She crushed me in a hug.
"OMG YES!"
When she let go of me, I started to apply some crayon, but she hugged me again, so I finished the other eye in a hurry and then turned to her. That time she succeeded at that dramatic kiss.
"Noticed how I kissed you on the mouth and not the nose?" she teased.
"In my defense, it was dark. And I initiated our first kiss so-"
"No you didn't! I did."
"Did you?" I said, narrowing my eyes, truly enjoying playing with her like that.
She kissed me again to make me quiet and took me by the waist.
"Just remember I initiated this," she said.
"Initiate wh-"
She started kissing me softly on the neck. And then up my jaw. I tried to push her a little towards the door and she misinterpreted that.
"I'm sorry, I didn't ask if you were okay with all of this?" she asked, worried.
"Yes, of course it is. It's just that I won't  do any of this in this steamy ass bathroom."
Her mouth stretched into a wide smile. "Okay then."
And with that, she threw me over her shoulder, and she carried me to the room like I weighed nothing at all.
"Hey! You're gonna crumple my shirt!" I protested.
She stopped and put me down.
"Then take it off," she smirked.
She frowned. "Was that too much?"
"Kind of." I kissed her. "It worked, though."
"It did?"
"It did."
She kissed me again and put her hand in my hair, which I hadn't done yet.
"But so you're sure about doing this, right?" she asked another time.
"Yes, I am. Are you?"
"Yes," she said, reconnecting our mouths.
I felt her hand move from my hair to my waist and then to the top of my shirt, unbuttoning it slowly. My hands were high up on her back, under the fabric of her tank top.
"You're slow," I teased, parting from the kiss for a second.
"I can't help it if your shirt has tough ass buttons!"
She interrupted our kiss again and battled with that one button she was struggling to open.
But right when she succeeded and it started to get heated again...
"Wednesday, Enid!" Mother called as she knocked at the door.
I pushed Enid away, and maybe a bit too hard, because I heard a thud on the floor behind me after I had turned around. I buttoned up my shirt again and opened the door casually, as if nothing had happened at all.
"Yes?"
Mother walked in.
"We're eating, so if you could please..." She saw Enid. "Oh my, are you okay, dear? Did you trip over something?"
She got up and readjusted her shorts, giving me a killer glance.
"I'm okay, thanks, Mrs. Addams."
Another killer look.
"We're coming, Mother."
She nodded and left.
I looked at Enid.
"That sounded like it hurt," I commented.
"It did hurt," was all she replied before leaving the room.

~~~

"It was delicious, thank you, Margaret!"
How Enid already got along so well with her was a real mystery to me.
"Actually, Morticia helped," she admitted.
"Oh leave that, Wednesday and I will do it," she said when Margaret tried to take her plate. "Right?"
She looked over at me.
"Yes, we're doing it," I said, getting up from my seat and heading to the sink.
She tilted her head in satisfied surprise.
"See What, you could propose to do that sometimes as well..."
"Yeah yeah," What mumbled.
And with that, he and Pugsley quickly went out the door. Mother and Father were already gone at that point, and Cousin Itt... I hadn't seen him since that morning. So only Enid and I were in the kitchen when Margaret left.
"You really had to include me in your good action, didn't you?"
A big smile appeared on her face.
"No, see, it's in the nuances. If I'm the only one doing it, I'm not being a good guest and it would make them seem like bad hosts. If we are doing it, we're kindly helping," she explained very seriously.
"Mhm mhm, anyway, scoot over, I'm doing it," I said, already gently pushing her away from the sink.
I rolled up my sleeves and let the water the run.
"That was really hot."
I looked over at her while applying some soap to a pan.
"The..." She mimicked me rolling up my sleeves, except she wasn't wearing something with long sleeves, so it didn't have the same effect.
"Whatever."
From the corner of my eye, I saw her lean against the counter. Once again, I felt her gaze.
"See, now I am being a bad guest, pretending to be friendly but doing noth-"
I splashed some water at her.
"Oh my god, how dare you!" she exaggerated.
I did it again.
"Girl, seriously, stop," she laughed.
Just for fun, I did it one last time, and she gave me another killer look.
That was when her phone rang in her pocket, and suddenly, the silence was very loud.
"It's probably mom," she said, letting it ring.
We both knew it was a lie.
"Just pick up, Enid."
I scrubbed the plate I had in my hands just a little harder.
"Just pick up already," I repeated.
She hesitated for a second, but then took her phone out of her pocket.
"Hey ... No, I can't right now ... I told you- ... I don't know, probably not ... What, really?"
I stopped listening to their conversation, because it made me physically sick.
At some point, she finally hung up. We locked eyes and uncomfortably looked away almost simultaneously.
"Do I dry them, then?"
I just nodded without looking at her.