Chapter Text
Colorless. Thats how most people spent their childhood. Years of black and white and various shades of gray. One touch from their soulmate and their world would explode in color. Of course, Wednesday Addams was different.
Wednesday Addams has always seen color. She's always seen vivid reds and vibrant blues. Neons were particularly disturbing. The rainbow of colors she could see was nauseating. She'd never admit it, but she was jealous of her classmates for only seeing muted grays and white. That's not to say she hated every color. She enjoyed the gloomy blue of the sky before a storm and the purple that bloomed on the skin around a nasty bruise. If she had to pick a favorite color, it'd be the red of blood as it seeped out of an open wound. But she'd trade that all to see just one particular color. For Wednesday Addams could not see the color black.
It was a fact that tormented her her entire life. She'd never seen the color of her braided hair or her wardrobe. She couldn't enjoy the color of her mother's favorite flowers or even the ravens that hung around the family cemetery. She cursed her soulmate for making her endure this misery. They were withholding the only color of importance from her and she would make them pay. She never had any plans to accept the person the universe decided was her perfect match. Truthfully, if she wasn't missing such a crucial color, she wouldn't want to meet them at all.
Wednesday spent her childhood dreaming of new ways to torture her soulmate. She could remove their fingernails one by one. Slowly. Basking in their pain as they begged her to stop. She could trap them in a hole filled with snakes. Watching as they endured bite after bite. Maybe she'll tie them to a chair and torture them with her favorite knife. A slice for every day she's been alive seems fair. Or perhaps she'll just behead them with her rusty guillotine. She'll have no use for them after their first touch. Maybe removing them from this world entirely is the way to go.
She spends years torturing Pugsley in preparation for the day she meets her soulmate. The torture is amusing but it's never truly satisfying. She imagines how it feels when its finally her soulmate looking at her with eyes filled with pain. She imagines it will be euphoric.
By the time Wednesday is enrolled in Nevermore, she's perfected her torture technique. Her mother seems to think she'll find her soulmate at Nevermore. Wednesday hopes so. Finally, she can end this once and for all. Her hatred for her soulmate was only renewed after seeing that monstrosity of a room she was forced to share. Enid couldn't even see color. "When I can finally see it, I want to be drowning in color!" Enid had exclaimed. Stupid. There was nothing special about color. Enid was the lucky one. A colorless world sounded disturbingly perfect.
Of all the places Wednesday imagined meeting her soulmate, she never imagined it would be in a coffee shop. Weathervane. An unremarkable coffee shop in an insignificant normie town.
When Wednesday entered the coffee shop, the barista was hidden in a cloud of steam. Of course, the espresso machine was broken. Hopefully the barista wasn't completely incompetent, and it would be fixed soon. Wednesday felt a slight tug in her chest pulling her towards the barista but chose to ignore it. She just needed her quad and then she was out of here. Nothing else mattered. When the smoke cleared, and the barista finally saw her, she felt a slight satisfaction as he jumped back in shock.
"Holy Crap! Do you make it a habit of scaring the hell out of people?"
"It's more of a hobby." She deadpanned. He was conventionally attractive with his soft curls and pretty hazel eyes. Not the Wednesday noticed. Of course not. Wednesday wasn't interested in that kind of thing, even if the sensation in her chest grew stronger the longer she talked to him.
"You go to Nevermore. Didn't realize they changed up the uniform." Briefly she wondered how he knew that. He must have already met his soulmate, otherwise he'd never have noticed her uniform was uniquely black instead of blue.
"I need a quad over ice. It's an emergency." When he continued to stare, she felt the need to elaborate. "It's four shots of espresso."
Yeah, I know what a quad is, but, spoiler alert, the espresso machine's having a seizure, so all we have is drip."
Wednesday tried to ignore the fluttering in her stomach at the sight of his slight smile, angry at herself for her lack of control over her emotions today. "But drip is for people who hate themselves and know their lives have no real purpose or meaning." Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an embarrassed man put down his cup and leave. Good. At least he knew his life was meaningless. "What's wrong with your machine?"
"It's a temperamental beast with a mind of its own, and it doesn't help that the instructions are in Italian."
The barista was obviously frustrated, and it was clear the machine wasn't going to be fixed without her help. Walking around the counter, Wednesday snatched the manual from his hands, scanning over the pages quickly. A valve issue was a simple fix. "I need a tri-wing screwdriver and a four-millimeter Allen wrench."
"Wait, you read Italian?"
"Of course. It's the native tongue of Machiavelli." She paused before continuing. "Here's the deal. I'm going to fix your coffee machine, then you're going to make me a coffee and call a taxi."
"No taxis in Jericho. Try Uber. " He handed her the requested tools, his fingers brushing hers slightly. A mild shock traveling from her fingertips up her arm. It was pleasant. If she wasn't so focused on fixing this machine and getting away from Nevermore, she'd figure out how to feel it again.
"I don't have a phone. I refuse to be a slave to technology."
"Whoa. Black." She heard him reply, voice filled with wonder. When she turned to look at him, his arm was outstretched, dropping back down just before touching one of her braids. She was about to comment when she realized why he was so amazed. Her hair was black and she could see it. The tug in her chest. The brushing of their fingers. The shock up her arm. Soulmate.
Oh no. No no no. She thought. How could this be her soulmate? Cute. Sweet. Nice. Normal. All qualities that she would never have used to describe her future soulmate. How could the universe possibly think this was her perfect match?
"You've always seen colors." It was a statement, not a question but he answered anyway.
"Yeah. As long as I can remember. My parents always assumed I'd just met my soulmate when I was too young to understand. Took me a while to notice I was missing black though." He tilted his head, a smile gracing his face as he talked.
Wednesday gave a small nod of her head, studying the boy before her. This is her soulmate. The boy she'd promised to torture upon meeting him. Only she didn't feel the inclination to torture him now. Or well she did. Tortue was fun and she wanted to discover his pain threshold. But she no longer felt the desire for revenge.
"Are you going to say anything?" He asked, a note of apprehension in his voice.
"I'm thinking."
"About?" He probed.
"Torture."
"Okay." His eyes widened, eyebrows raising, but his face showed no fear. Instead, he seemed intrigued.
Interesting, Wednesday thought. Maybe there was more to this boy than she originally thought. Maybe there was a dark side buried under this innocent act. She could try to get to know him. Figure out what kind of darkness he was hiding. But that would require she stay at Nevermore. Did she really want to give up this chance to escape for a boy she'd just met?
"I'm Tyler by the way."
"Wednesday" She responded, still mulling over her dilemma. Behind her, she heard to cafe door open, two pairs of footsteps sounding across the tiled floor. Turn her head, she saw it was Principal Weems and the sheriff who had entered the shop.
"Come on, Miss Addams. Time to go." Principle Weems called out to her.
She saw the sheriff open his mouth, but he was cut off as Tyler spoke, handing her a quad in a to go cup.
"You'll be back?" He asked, a hopeful look in his eyes. She knew what he was really asking. Did she still intend to leave?
She gave a sharp nod. "I will. The universe may have deemed you worthy, but I have yet to make that determination." She answered.
He smiled at her response and offered a quick goodbye. To her horror, Wednesday felt a slight upward twitch of her lips as she gave him a final nod. Her emotions were failing her today and she would need to get control of them before she saw him again. Silently she followed Principal Weems out of the cafe, mentally adjusting her plans. She'd stay at Nevermore a little bit longer to get to know Tyler. She'd discover his secrets and hidden darkness. She could always leave later. Engineering another escape wouldn't be too difficult.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Wednesday turned her head away from Principal Weems and fingered the hem of her dress. Black. She could finally see it. Its darkness contrasted perfectly against her paler skin. It was eerily beautiful. Her thoughts drifted back to Tyler. The awe and amazement when he saw her black braid for the first time. He'd seemed just as enamored with the color as she was. Maybe it wasn't him that withheld the color from her, but her from him. Maybe she needed to withhold the color from him so he could fully appreciate it, appreciate her. His soulmate. The girl that lived in a colorful world and chose to paint herself in black.