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

chapter 13: you'll never have to be alone

1 week later

"I'll just wait outside," I said, closing the door and entering the corridor.
Her mother had just called, and she had to take it. Wednesday had already stayed some extra days, and now her parents really wanted her to come back home. Well, not exactly home, but at some uncle's of hers, she had corrected.
I leaned against the wall and sighed out of stress. She was going to ask her parents if I could stay with them while they were still in LA.
The last days had been crazy: mom and dad got into a huge fight, and as a result, dad avoided the house as much as possible. During soccer practice, Anthony managed to break a leg. Oh, and Jared got dumped by his long-distance boyfriend, leaving him in an even worse mood than usual.
Wednesday had been my only stable element in all that chaos. She and I just ignored all the problems and tried to make the most of that week together. We really were in our own bubble, which we created. It was us against the world. Against my brothers. Against my mother.
So what if her parents said no? I really didn't want to be stuck in this house with both mom and Jared while dad was at work all day. Without Wednesday, I wouldn't be able to endure another day filled with my mother's remarks.
Wednesday stuck her head out the door of my room.
"I'm done."
I hopped back into my room and closed the door.
"So?" I asked, trying to sound casual.
Wednesday smirked.
"Really??"
She nodded. I shrieked and jumped happily around the room before taking her in my arms. She hugged back.
"We do leave in a day or so," she said.
"That's okay, my parents want me out of here as soon as possible anyway," I replied, shrugging.
That wasn't a lie. When I asked them if I could go away with Wednesday's family for some time, they immediately accepted, and not in a 'spend some time with friends, we're happy for you' way.
We backed out of the hug, but not enough to break the contact. Her arms were still around my waist, and my hands were still on her shoulders. I cupped her cheeks with both of my hands. Her eyes were looking into mine and I felt that special connection we had. I put my lips on hers, no pressure, just mine on hers.
"This is still okay, isn't it?" I asked, parting from her for some time.
She kissed me back. "Yes."
Her right hand was on my forearm as we deepened the kiss. It didn't stay there that long though, since she not much later placed both of her hands on the back of my thighs and tilted me up. As I wrapped my legs around her, I smiled in our kiss.
"Pretty strong for a human," I commented.
She pushed me gently against the wall.
"An Addams," she corrected.
This time, she initiated the kiss. She started off soft, but it got more intense by the second.
Then the door flew open.
"Enid, mom-" Jared started in his usual smug tone.
He stopped mid-sentence, scanning us from head to toe. Wednesday put me back on the floor. We were all kind of too stunned to speak.
"I-"
"Didn't dad teach you to knock before entering a room, Jay?!"
"I interrupted something, didn't I?" he said to piss me off.
"No kidding?" Wednesday commented, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"How I pity that Ajax boy!" Jared said, already heading outside. "Oh, and mom says you need to come downstairs, apparently you didn't do the dishes."
My brother slammed the door after him. I turned to Wednesday. I just knew my cheeks were burning red by the smirk she was addressing me.
"I guess we're going to need to talk about that and, uh... be more careful," I chuckled nervously.
We had a lot to discuss about this relationship. One of the points we already discussed was keeping it hidden from my family, I just didn't want to have to explain everything to them. I had neither the time nor the energy to do so. Another point was Ajax. That subject we kept avoiding. We avoided it. She didn't want to talk about him either. We really were in our bubble, far, far away from reality. We just, we just went with it day after day, knowing that we'd have to address the point at some moment, but not just yet. That 'not just yet' was where we thrived.
Wednesday grabbed my hand, that way she pulled me out of my thoughts.
"We really should go downstairs."
I nodded and led us through the door.

~~~

"Enid Sinclair, why are you still in your pyjamas!"
I glanced down at my gray bottoms and the oversized Mean Girls shirt I had slept with. Then I checked the clock on the kitchen's wall.

A quarter to ten.
First time seeing her today, first remark of the day.

"It's not even noon and it's Sunday," I replied. "By the way, hi to you too, mom."
Wednesday greeted her politely, but dryly. I knew she didn't like her. And honestly, who could blame her for it? Mom added some extra dirty plates in the sink and then left the room. I sighed, took off my bracelets, and got to work.
"Can I help?" Wednesday asked, after I opened the tap and was scrubbing the first plate.
I felt her arms encircle me from the back, and she placed her chin on my shoulder. Then I felt her cold hand under my T-shirt on my stomach.

Ugh, if only mom wasn't next room.

"I'm sorry, could you not, please, mom-"
She immediately let go of me.
"I get it, I get it. What about you clean and I dry, then?" she proposed, moving on and taking the kitchen towel.
"Sounds perfect," I smiled.
I was going to go in for a kiss, but from the corner of my eye, I saw Jared enter the room. He had seen it and was chuckling.
"You know, I'm not gonna rat you out..."
"Oh my god thank-"
"...if you do my chores for the rest of the break."
"You motherf-"
I stopped just in time because mom came back with two dirty mugs.
In silence, I passed Wednesday some cutlery.
Jared smirked.
"Look, she isn't doing all the work!" he said.
Mom stared at me angrily.
"You better not be making Wednesday do your chores!"
Jared smirked even more.
"What?! I'm not-"
"I'm just helping Mrs. Sinclair," Wednesday intervened.
"And she has to do her work, even though she doesn't want to."
Jared stuck his tongue out at me. 'Bitch' I mouthed to him.
"And I want to help her, is that such a big problem, Mrs. Sinclair?" she asked.
Her tone sounded neutral to most people, but I could discern her monotone, neutral tone from this passive-aggressive one. Mom had nothing to say about that, so she left the cups in the sink and went away again.
"Thanks a lot, Jared! That was so fucking needed," I said, turning to him.
"You're welcome," he smiled and he headed to the door.
Somehow, before he could get there, Wednesday was already blocking the door. She held a butter knife I had passed her merely seconds earlier to his neck.
"Another one of those 'pranks' and-"
He laughed. "What are you gonna do about it, huh?"
The knife sank deeper into his skin.
"Do you really want to find out that bad?"
Wednesday took the knife away.
"We're leaving in two days, please don't talk to us until then."
Jared left, faking being unbothered, and left. Once again, he slammed the door.
Wednesday came back to my side and continued to dry the dishes.
"We're almost done!" I said, noticing I only had those dirty cups left to clean.
Wednesday kissed me on the cheek as I passed her one of the mugs.
"You're okay, right?" she whispered in my ear, just checking in.
"Yeah, yeah," I lied.
I knew she didn't buy it, but she didn't dig in either, at least not yet, which I was thankful for.
I gave her the last mug and dried my hands off on my T-shirt.
After that, I put all the dishes away and Wednesday and I headed back upstairs.

~~~

After my awkward moment of waiting in the hallway, it had been Wednesday's. While I told mom about the details of us getting to LA, and tried to scrape some extra pocket money along the way. The advantage was that she already agreed to let me go with them, so that shouldn't be a problem. The only thing left to do, really, was to plan how we'd get to the train station. Mr. and Mrs. Addams had already booked train tickets for us, we only needed a way to get to the station. That was up to mom now, if she or dad were willing to drive us there or make Jared bring us.

Wednesday looked up from her phone when I got out of my parents' room.
"So?"
She put her phone back in her pocket.
"We're going to have to pay us an Uber, but besides that-"
She crushed me in a hug.
"I hate the house, but I just know you're going to love it in LA. And you'll get to know Pugsley better, and I'll have to introduce you to cousin Itt, and What, and Margaret," she blurted out.
"I can't wait," I whispered against her neck.