Tackling the Truth

by whitebeltwriter

Summary:

Enid talks about her massive crush on Wednesday to Yoko and gets overheard by someone she wished hadn't heard her yet.
Her response?
RUN.

Chapter 1

“Yoko, I am losing my goddamn mind!” Enid whined to her oldest friend. Classes had finally ended for the day and the wolf had dragged Yoko to one of Nevermore’s more secluded second floor hallways. The windows were open, facing out towards the surrounding woods, and the fresh breeze speckled with spring petals would have normally made Enid smile at the changing of the seasons.

Unfortunately she was a bit too busy having a massive gay panic attack and Yoko had zero qualms about telling her so.

“What did she do now?”

“She gave me her bacon at breakfast this morning!” the blonde wiggled in place, “And she pointed out the answer in the book just before the teacher called on me in history!”

“Have you sent out the wedding invitations yet?” Yoko deadpanned.

“Yoko!”

“Babe, I’m sorry, I love you, but you have been hemming and hawing about this for weeks!” the vamp nearly growled in frustration, “Can you please tell her how you feel so we can talk about literally anything else?!”

“Are you insane?!” Enid shrieked. “I can’t do that!”

“Why, in the ever loving fuck, not?!”

“Because this isn’t just some-some dumb crush for some dumb guy–”

“–I’mma tell Ajax you said that–”

“–This is Wednesday, we’re talking about!”

“I fail to see the problem,” Yoko drawled, “Worse case scenario, she threatens you like she usually does.”

“The problem, Yoko, is that she’s driving me crazy and not even on purpose!” The vampire tensed up but nothing save a certain ravenette could stop Enid Sinclair when she got on a roll these days. “She gets me snacks, she lets me play kpop a little louder than usual when I’ve had a bad day, and constantly threatens anyone who says any little thing against me; which should not be endearing, but it is!”

“Enid–”

“Even when she’s not around I think about her! During the break I couldn’t fall asleep at night unless I played cello covers and even then all I could think about is how Wednesday would do them better! How if she heard them she’d say some biting but weirdly funny remark and I’d laugh and she’d get that little look on her face she gets when she’s amused!”

“Enid!”

“I can’t stop thinking about her hair, her eyes, her goddamn smell! All the little expressions she makes that no one else seems to notice and she expresses so much, Yoko!” the blonde dragged her hands through her own hair with a groan. “More than that; she inspires me to actually stand up for myself. To be myself! She’s brilliant and loyal and kind! ...Granted it’s a very specific way of being kind that usually involves someone bleeding, but still!”

“Girl...”

“She’s amazing and incredible and I’ve fallen completely in love with her and have no idea how to tell her!” Enid finally quit her flailing long enough to notice that Yoko had crossed her arms and covered her mouth with one hand. At some point she’d pushed her glasses up enough for the wolf to see that her eyes were darting between the blonde and something over her shoul–

Oh.

Oh fuck.

“She’s right behind me, isn’t she.” 

It wasn’t a question; the breeze through the windows had shifted enough that the scent of old paper, ink, and something like the mild rot that laid on the floor of forests wafted by her nose. 

Wednesday.

Yoko nodded slowly.

“She heard everything?”

Another nod.

“Cool. Cool. Coolcoolcoolcool cool.” 

Okay. No big deal. She just told her kinda-sorta-more-than-a-crush that she had feelings for her. That’s fine. It’s what she wanted, even! Now all she had to do was turn around and face the music.

Hopefully not the funeral kind, but it's Wednesday so maybe that’d be a good thing?

Enid slowly turned to greet her roommate, who had remained silent the entire time; she got as far as seeing a grayscale school jacket and a single braid before–

“Nope!” The wolf aborted the turn and instead bolted straight past Yoko, making a beeline for one of the opened windows.

Someone yelled her name as she hiked one foot up onto the sill and leapt out without hesitation. As gravity pulled her down to the grass below, it occurred to her that if anyone had been below her it would have been bad, but then the ground met her feet, shoulder, and back in quick succession, before she popped up out of her roll and began booking it into the tree line before her.

So glad my brothers dragged me into parkouring with them last summer, was the last coherent thought she had for a minute as her body focused on getting her as far away from her pint-sized dark-colored problem as she could.

Enid was dimly aware of a tiny voice in the back of her mind saying, This is so dumb; she’s my roommate, I’ll have to see her eventually. This is just delaying the inevitable!

She politely told that voice to fuck off and let her run.

Minutes later Enid finally slowed her sprint to a standstill at the insistence of a stitch in her side. Hands on her knees she gasped for air for a few seconds before straightening up and putting her hands on her head like the gym teacher was always yelling at her to do.

“Buh– gah– oh, what– ha -am I doing?” she groaned; did she seriously just do that? Run away from her not so tiny crush on her oh so tiny roommate? And by jumping out of a window no less?! 

For fuck’s sake, her heart beating so fast it sounded like two overlapping beats!

...

Wait... That wasn’t her heart–

A flash of black as she turned around was all the warning she got before something slammed into her midsection and practically plowed her into the ground. Enid yelped and tried to swipe at whatever was on top of her but was quickly pinned, hands on either side of her head as she laid on her back and look up at the heaving face of–

“Hey– We-Wednesday!” she gasped, lungs still not quite getting as much oxygen as they would prefer, “–H-how’re you?” 

Stupid stupid stupid, she internally berated herself, Of course Wednesday followed her.

“What was that?!” the goth snarled, teeth bared and looking the definition of upset. Fuck.

“W-well, I thought it was a linebacker–” Enid couldn’t help but quip in the midst of her ‘oh shit I’ve pissed Wednesday off’ panic, “–turns out it was just you. Ha– Which is-is pretty impressive since you weigh, like, a hundred pounds soaking wet–”

“Enid!” The grips on her wrists tightened and the wolf squeezed her eyes shut; she didn’t want to see what happened next.

“I panicked, okay?! I'm sorry!”

“Sorry?!”

“That wasn’t how I wanted to tell you! I wanted– needed –time to prepare and get ready just in case it went wrong–”

“What?!”

“–but then you heard me and I got scared and so I ran–”

“I scared you–”

“Yes!” Enid growled, frustrated to feel tears in her eyes even though she still kept them squeezed shut. “Wednesday I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this but you’re terrifying on a good day! An-and the idea of you saying no? Th-that you don’t feel the same? That scares me more than every death threat you have ever given me combined.”

Her chest heaved— she’s honestly surprised she hasn’t passed out yet —and Enid knows her face is flushed from more than just the run because Wednesday knows now; she knows and it’s completely out of her hands so she just has to lie there and take it. Literally!

The wolf wasn’t sure how long they laid there for; Enid struggling to catch her breath and Wednesday as silent as a crypt. It felt like an eternity of eternities and Enid wondered what would kill her first: the goth or her heart just giving out from the suspense.

“Did...did you mean it?” the girl still looming over asked, voice barely above a murmur. The stutter made Enid’s eyes blink open in shock before the meaning of the words did. The blonde gazed upward to find Wednesday staring at her with an expression she’d never seen on the ravenette’s face before. Even those who thought the girl incapable of displaying any sort of emotion beyond boredom or annoyance would have been able to pick up the cues her face was revealing.

Her mouth was the slightest bit ajar, jaw intermittently flexing and relaxing as if torn between speaking and biting off her own tongue. Her cheeks were a few shades darker than they usually were and a voice in Enid’s head— who knew how meticulous the girl was in upkeeping her own health, sleeping schedule aside —seriously doubted the flush was from a simple run, even if it had been a sprint.

But most telling of all were Wednesday’s eyes. They were wider than Enid had ever seen them; twin windows allowing the wolf to peek at the soul within and find it peppered with curiosity, anxiety...and something else, something big, that she couldn’t quite name.

Her eyes are brown, not black, Enid eloquently mused, noting the barest ring of warmth around the goth’s eyes. She'd never been quite this close to them before. 

That, of all things, was what spurred the wolf on. 

“Every word,” she stated, with all the sincerity she could muster, “I meant every word, Wends.” 

Tears streaked down the sides of her head and dripped onto her ears but she paid them no mind; this was far more important. If she was doomed then damn it she was gonna be a wolf and face it head on. ...She didn't have too much choice in that regard— and she had run away at first —but still!

Wednesday’s eyes darted all over Enid’s face, searching for even the slightest hint of deceit. The wolf allowed it and simply met her gaze head on; she didn’t know how long her courage would last but she was determined to use it for as long as she could.

She also just enjoyed the chance to stare at the smaller girl’s face unobstructed, but that was neither here nor there.

To her shock, Wednesday was the one to break eye contact first; the goth blinked and her eyes drifted down and out of focus somewhere below the blonde’s chin. Her elbows buckled as her back lost some of its rigidity and she wound up bowing over Enid; the pressure on the wolf’s wrists changed from a grip to a simple press of weight as Wednesday kept her hands there simply to keep from falling down completely.

The gentle rustle of the forest cocooned around them and Enid barely dared to breathe despite how much her lungs ached for air. Wednesday was thinking and the blonde would be damned if she interrupted her.

Though I might be damned anyway, she grimaced, her heart twitching painfully.

“...Do you require a response right this instant?” Wednesday asked towards her chest and Enid’s heart tore in relief and trepidation.

“No– no. No, I don’t,” Enid stated calmly, equal parts elated and apprehensive. She had more time until the inevitable occurred; but what would the outcome be?

“Thank you,” the ravenette murmured back, still half lost in her own head. “I...I need to consider this...”

“No rush. ...But, uh, Wednesday?”

“Hm?”

“...Do, uh, you think you could, maybe, let me up now?”

Wednesday blinked, gaze flicking to their adjacent hands as if only now recalling their position. A small puff of air escaped her nose in amusement, “Are you really telling me you are incapable of getting up from this under your own power?”

With an impish smirk and her last bit of spontaneous courage, Enid thrusted her hips up at the same moment she threw her right arm up towards the smaller girl, causing a shocked Wednesday to be flung off of the wolf. She followed after her and duplicated their previous position with a cocky grin.

“You were saying, roomie?”

The cheeks of the girl beneath her darkened even more and what little brown she’d seen in those pupils was promptly overshadowed by black. Enid’s courage fled as quickly as the blush in her own cheeks arrived and she stumbled up and off of Wednesday as fast as she could.

“R-right, well– any hoo~” she chattered after clearing her throat awkwardly, “I’m gonna, uh, head back. To our room. Yup...” She held out a hand to Wednesday, half shocked when the smaller girl actually took it and allowed Enid to haul her up onto her feet. It took a few moments for their hands to release, the blonde tucking her hands behind her back as she rocked on her heels.

“I think I will...stay out for a bit longer,” Wednesday remarked, observing her palm for a second before finding the bark of a tree suddenly very interesting.

“Cool. Cool.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...Um... Wends–” 

The goth stabbed her hand in a direction without looking. “School is that way.”

“T-thanks!” Enid stuttered, already walking away. “I’ll uh, I’ll see ya later; roomie!”

“Mm.”

Enid forced herself to walk for a count of three hundred before she finally pulled out her phone. Yoko picked up on the second ring.

“Heeeey, Yok–”

“BITCH YOU JUMPED OUT A FUCKING WINDOW?!”

Chapter 2

Wednesday didn’t move until after she could no longer hear Enid’s steps or see her shock of blonde hair out of the corner of her eye. Even afterwards she remained rooted in place like the great trees around her; unyielding to all save an axe, time, or wild storm.

I wonder which one Enid is... she mused, cheeks retaining the color they’d gained from her latest encounter with the blonde.

The goth found herself uncommonly bemused and completely at a loss for what she should do. So many thoughts were piling up in her skull she could barely glance at one before half a dozen more buried it. The wits she did manage to keep a hold on found the entire thing very inefficient at best, and sca– annoying at worst.

Wednesday eventually corralled her thoughts enough to come to a singular conclusion.

I need to talk to someone about this, she decided, setting her course straight for town.

She reached the former office of Dr Kinbott just as a black woman stepped out of the front door, keys in hand.

“Dr Wylder,” Wednesday called out. The woman looked up and smiled as the goth approached.

“Wednesday! How are you? I’m surpris–” Maddie Wylder’s brow furrowed as she got a closer look at the girl’s face. “...Everything alright?”

“I need to talk,” she stated, annoyed that her heart refused to fall completely back to its usually low resting rate, “...If you are free.”

The doctor nodded once, “My office or a walk?”

“...Walk please.”

“No prob,” Maddie nodded again. “Mind if we grab some coffee first; my treat?” She asked, already turning and making a beeline for the Weathervane, Wednesday falling in step beside her.

“Your coffee addiction will send you to an early grave,” Wednesday deadpanned.

“Death comes to us all and I for one would like to be properly caffeinated when it does. Also your tiny ass has no room to talk, Miss ‘Quad-Over-Ice’,” Dr Wylder quipped with a smirk. “What is that; two- two hundred fifty milligrams of caffeine?”

“Three hundred, actually.”

“How you keep from bouncing off the walls is beyond me.”

“I imagine people bouncing down stairs instead; it helps me relax,” Wednesday drolled, drawing a bark of laughter out of the doctor.

---

Drinks in hand, Dr Wylder let Wednesday lead them away from the center of town and down a trail into the woods.

“You really shouldn’t be so easily led to un-populated areas,” the girl chastised, “It makes you far too easy to murder.”

“The only person around to murder me is you, and if you do that then you won’t have anyone to talk about whatever it is that has you in a tizzy,” Maddie chuckled, not having to turn her head to catch the harsh side-eye Wednesday threw at her for her choice of words. She took a sip from her drink before allowing her voice to grow more professional, “So, what’s up?”

Wednesday kept her eyes on the path ahead as she mused on the fastest way to end this conversation and get the answers she needed. “...I am... conflicted on how to respond to Enid’s confessed feelings.”

“Her confessed– what?”

“Feelings. Specifically for me.”

“Hold up– wait,” Maddie stopped walking, forcing Wednesday to have to turn around and face what was probably– yup, Dr Wylder was smiling her stupid grin. Wonderful. “Enid confessed her feelings? To you?! She told you she liked you?!”

“That is what I said, yes,” Wednesday gritted out. She hated repeating herself.

“When was this?!” the doctor all but squealed. How a thirty-something year old woman managed to retain the energy of a teenager on a sugar rush was beyond the goth.

“After I tackled her.”

“...Come again?”

“Well technically she did most of it before she jumped out of the window, but my overhearing it was unintentional so I’m reluctant to count it.”

“Windo– what?!” Maddie shrieked, flailing the one hand that wasn’t holding her cup in a death grip, before she forced a deep breath. “Okay; as your therapist, I believe the best way to give you proper advice is if you tell me the entire story so that I have adequate context.”

Wednesday narrowed her eyes at her in a mild glare. “You just want to know the details because you take joy from hearing my quote-un-quote ‘teenage shenanigans’.”

“Six of one, half-a-dozen of the other,” Dr Wylder shrugged unrepentantly, “Now spill.”

With an aggravated sigh, they resumed their walk and Wednesday obliged, Maddie listening silently save for the odd barely restrained noise of exclamation. When the goth had finished the woman took another breath, head tilted to the sky, before letting it back out, all without breaking her stride.

“So, just to recap–” she held up a hand and started counting on her fingers. “You unintentionally heard Enid express her romantic feelings for you; she noticed you, panicked, and jumped out a second floor window. You jumped after her because apparently neither of you knows the definition of chill, chased her through the woods, and tackled her to the ground where she once again confirmed said feelings. Then you separated so you could think of how to respond and you came to talk to me. Am I missing anything?”

“...She also reversed our positions and pinned me to the ground just to prove that she could, but that’s not entirely relevant,” Wednesday stated, hating how her cheeks warmed at the memory.

“What the fuck is in the water at your school–” Wylder mumbled distractedly with a head shake. “Okay, so, what exactly are you– what did you say earlier –having ‘conflicted’ feelings about? Do you not feel the same way towards Enid?”

“My feelings are irrelevant to this situation,” the goth asserted, brow furrowed in confusion at the question. The doctor paused again with a heavy sigh, pulling out her ‘handy-dandy notebook’ and a pen.

“‘Kay, just gonna...put a pin in that thought,” she grumbled, pen scratching on a page before focusing back on Wednesday. “Alright, so if your feelings aren’t the issue, what is?” The goth dropped her gaze and resumed walking, trusting the doctor to catch up.

“...I... This is the third time since I’ve been at Nevermore that someone had confessed having feelings for me,” Wednesday explained, grip tightening on her cup. Wylder remained silent, taking another sip at her own. “Of the first two, I was tricked into getting one falsely arrested for murder, and the other turned out to be the actual murderer, who only got close to me by his master’s bidding.” She didn’t mention that said murderer had also harmed Eugene, nearly killed her, and had fought Enid; she’d already told the doctor all of this in an earlier session and the woman had a decent memory.

“Remind me which one you physically tortured?” Maddie asked curiously.

“Tyler, the Hyde.” Correction; usually had a decent memory.

“Right; I always get the two of them mixed up,” she took another sip, mumbling under her breath something that sounded like ‘generic white boys’. “–So what’s your point?”

“My point, Dr Wylder–” Wednesday gritted out, “–Is that so far my track record with juvenile crushes is that either they hurt me or I hurt them, and I–” she swallowed hard, forcing the words into their proper place so she could finally spit them out.

“–I don’t want that for Enid. She– she deserves so much better than that.”

“...Better than you, you mean?”

Wednesday placed her cup to her lips, not drinking any of it, and didn’t reply. Not outloud, at least.

“You really do care about her, don’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

“I never claimed otherwise,” she shot back. “I also never claimed to be an expert in emotions; that is your supposed area of expertise. So tell me–” Wednesday finally stopped her marching and turned to face the older woman, “– What do I do?”

Maddie faced her calmly, “Well, what do you want to do? –Ah bup bup!” she wagged a finger as the girl opened her mouth, “–Don’t you dare say it’s irrelevant, ‘cause it’s not.”

Wednesday glared at her but closed her mouth anyway.

“Thank you. Now, the way I see it, you have two basic options; both of which depend on how you feel,” she glared at the girl, daring her to interject, before softening and counting them off on one hand. “Option one; you don’t feel the same way and you tell her as much. Ideally as gently as possible, but it’s going to hurt regardless.”

“Her or me?”

“Yes. Option two; you do feel the same way and you still tell her. ...Okay, it’s basically the same either way where you just tell her how you feel, but my point still stands!”

“Option three–”

“–Wednesday–”

“–I hitch a ride to the train station and become a vagabond like my Uncle Fester.”

“Wednesday no.”

“What do you want me to do!” Wednesday snapped.

“I told you; I want you to tell Enid how you feel about her, regardless of what that particular feeling may be!”

“I can’t!”

“Why not!”

“I can’t hurt her!” Wednesday growled, chest heaving, fists clenched so tightly her cup was indanger of being disemboweled. “I can’t– not– not again. I don’t– I don’t know how to do– this!” She flailed her empty hand before her as if it explained everything and she growled again when Wylder silently raised a brow to retort that ‘no, it did not explain anything at all’.

“This! Feelings! Emotions! How to-to date someone!”

“So you do wanna date her.”

“That’s not important–”

“Yes. It. Is.” Maddie emphasized, getting as close to Wednesday as she dared without crossing the girl’s boundaries too much. “What you feel for her is every bit as important as what she feels for you. That is how relationships work; romantic, platonic or otherwise.” 

The goth stared up at her, jaw clenched but refusing to look away. The doctor matched her glare pound for pound for a moment before allowing her own to soften, just a little.

“You don’t want to hurt her, and you don’t want to get hurt either; I get that. But as much as I would love to promise that that won’t happen, it’d be a lie, and neither of us like those. There is always going to be a risk of someone getting hurt; that’s just the way it is. Whichever way you choose there is always going to be a chance of one or both of you getting hurt. Just like there’s always a chance of you dying from some freak accident.

“So I’ll ask you again; what do you want to do?”

Wednesday glared a moment longer before allowing her gaze to go straight ahead in a thousand yard stare rather than up into Maddie’s eyes. The doctor took a slow sip of her drink, letting the thoughts in the girl’s head percolate. She was rewarded for her patience— and the repeating of her mantra ‘you can’t shake sense into the patients, you can’t shake sense into the patients’ —by Wednesday finally blinking back into the moment, a determined spark in her eye telling Maddie all she needed to know.

“This has been an aggravating and torturous conversation; thank you.”

“Always happy to help,” the doctor grinned, “Anything else you wanna bring up or you good now?”

“I should be adequate for now. Please excuse me; I need to return to school,” Wednesday downed the last of her quad in one go and accurately tossed the cup into a waste bin a ways away from them.

“Show off,” Maddie teased. To the girl’s already retreating back she called, “You want me to give you a lift back?”

“No thank you,” she replied, not halting her stride, “I have to plan what I’m going to say.”

“Good luck then!”

“Luck is for fools with no skills.”

“Tell me that after you get the girl!” Wednesday tripped slightly and Maddie cackled, shaking her head. She couldn’t wait for their next session.

---

Wednesday entered her dorm room to find Enid and Yoko sat on the blonde’s bed with Yoko halfway through painting Enid’s left hand.

“I need to speak to my roommate. Alone,” the goth stated, stepping to one side of the still open door.

“Say no more,” Yoko nodded, capping the polish in her hand amid Enid’s protests.

“Wait– you’re not done yet!”

“Sweetie you and I both know you do your own nails on the reg,” she quipped, hopping up and slipping on her shoes with a grin. “Besides, it's your left hand; you could paint it in your sleep.” Yoko strolled to the door, hands in her pockets and glasses pushed up on top of her head, when she paused next to Wednesday. The goth raised a brow in question as Yoko stared her down.

“...Hurt her and I’ll make sure every drop of your blood gets drained,” the vampire declared, light glinting off of her extended fangs.

“I’d expect nothing less,” Wednesday shot back immediately, causing Yoko to grin again.

With a chuckle she finally saw herself out, throwing a “Good luck” over her shoulder as the door closed behind her; though neither could tell who it was for. Silence reigned for a moment as the pair listened to the vamp’s steps slowly fade away. Once they’d gone completely Wednesday turned back to her roommate who decided right at that very moment she needed to blow her nails dry, and had to stare at them intently to do so; if only to not have to meet the smaller girl’s keen gaze.

“I’m ready to respond to your earlier query now,” Wednesday stated, back straight and hands clasped before her like a soldier at attention.

“Wha– now?! Like– right now?!” Enid squeaked, looking like she loved and hated the idea in equal measures, “That was quick! I mean– you’re usually quick– lightning fast, actually– b-but considering, ya know, everything, I’d thought it’d take longer– which now that I say that it sounds dumb–”

“Is– Do you not want my response now?” the ravenette furrowed her brow, confused.

“No! Yes– I mean– gah,” Enid shot up from her bed at the look on the girl’s face— nearly tripping over herself as she did so —only to stop and drag her hands down her face with a noise that sounded part groan and part screech. Eyes covered she took a deep breath, holding it for several seconds before releasing it in a shuddering blow.

Hands dropping to her hips, she stared straight Wednesday in an almost defiant manner. The goth’s brow twitched at the sight; the blonde looked like a puppy about to engage in a battle with a chew toy.

“You know what? Yes. Yes I-I would like to hear your response,” she stated boldly despite the quiver in her lip. “Am I ready? Nope. Am I gonna cry? Probably! But at this point I think I’d like to get it over and done with. ...Also it wasn’t a query so much as a statement, so– yeah...”

Wednesday let out a puff of air from her nose, eyes crinkling the slightest bit, before she crossed the long gone line into Enid’s half of the room until she was right in front of the wolf.

“Very well then; I’ll start now.”

“Great. Awesome. Wonderful! Stupendo–” Enid squeaked, getting higher with each word until Wednesday raised her brow again. “...Sorry.”

“You did nothing wrong,” the goth assured before clearing her throat, annoyed to find that her hands felt clammier all of a sudden. “Enid I– ...I’m–” She’d started off meeting the blonde’s gaze but soon found it dropping down to the taller girl’s chin instead. The words she’d cultivated during her trudge back to school seemed to wither and die on her tongue like they’d never done before.

“...Wends?” Enid asked softly, equally as concerned as Wednesday at her uncharacteristic verbal struggle.

“I’m sorry, I just– no, not like that!” the goth swore as she watched the wolf’s face fall at her unintended words. 

“But–”

“I just– I–” Wednesday growled and grabbed fistfuls of her own skirt; she knew what she wanted to say, she just had to say it!  

“I’m not good; at this or in general,” she finally chewed and spat out. Enid made a face that said she disagreed but stayed quiet. “I am...selfish, reckless, stubborn, and either ignorant of the ‘needs’ of others or aware of them solely for manipulative purposes.”

Now Enid really made a face like she wanted to say something and even got as far as opening her mouth to do so, but Wednesday held up a hand and waved her off.

“I’m not finished. I am aware of my flaws; I’m even proud of some of them. You, on the other hand, are...selfless, considerate, compassionate, loyal, and just plain kind. We are as different as two people could possibly be and I cannot foresee a relationship between us ending well.”

Enid bit her lip to keep it from quivering even as she felt her eyes heating up as tears began to gather in them, “Ye-yeah that’s um– I-I disagree about what you said about yourself– most of them anyway– but, yeah- if you don’t want to–”

“But–” Wednesday cut her off, “–by that logic we shouldn’t work as friends either; yet we do.” She gently grabbed Enid’s right hand with her left, making the blonde’s words and breath stutter to a halt. Wednesday found her thumb automatically began to gently rub the blonde’s hand in a manner she thought would be defined as comforting.

“It’s as you said–” she continued, still not quite able to meet Enid’s eye, “We shouldn’t work, but we do. So...I want– I want to try. I want to see how far this– how far we –can go...if you’ll have me?”

Enid’s left hand came up to cover her mouth and the motion finally drew Wednesday’s eye back up to her face. While the blonde’s eyes were still swimming with tears, covering her mouth did nothing to hide the smile shining out from her face. The goth’s heart gave a small jolt at the expression and she mentally hissed at it to calm down.

“I– Yeah,” Enid grinned wetly, hand falling away to reveal the poorly hidden smile beaming beneath, “Yeah, I’d– I’d like that too.” Wednesday felt the corners of her mouth twitch upwards slightly and couldn’t find it within herself to care.

“Good. That’s– good,” the goth cleared her throat and blinked, gaze darting away from staring at her sun for too long. She swore to herself to do everything in her power to protect that smile; realizing that in order to do that she would have to tread carefully in this new ‘relationship’ of theirs. She couldn’t afford to mess things up; she didn’t think her heart could survive the failure of this particular venture.

“Perhaps we could also...take things slow?” Wednesday asked, staring at the now pink scars that had healed so wonderfully on Enid’s face; though they were a little hard to see at the moment, nearly blending in with the wolf’s blush.

“Yeah, yeah, totally, we can go slow! Like, so slow! Glacial, even!” Enid spouted, Wednesday’s small smile growing even more pronounced as the wolf began full on rambling. 

In the middle of what seemed like an analogy to turtles, a thought— no; more like an urge —fell over Wednesday, and she decided to let her impulsivity drive for a moment. With only the barest hint of hesitance, the goth drew their still touching hands up and placed a kiss delicately on the back of Enid’s hand.

The effect was instantaneous.

A squeak erupted from the blonde, followed promptly by a gurgle while her knees buckled beneath; fortunately she’d been standing close enough to her bed to land on it rather than the hardwood floor. The wolf hid her now cherry red face with her free hand, the other still gently held in Wednesday’s, who’d barely pulled an inch away from her wolf’s hand after kissing it.

The goth blinked and understanding of her parent’s antics dropped onto her skull like an anvil. The girl found herself thinking of how lovely Enid’s face looked when flustered and was already planning a myriad of ways to cause the flushing once again. She also briefly entertained the thought of apologizing to her parents for her reactions to their open displays of romantic affection, but just as quickly dismissed it. They deserved it for the years of torture they’d forced upon their children; understanding their reasons did nothing to change that.

Another nonsensical gurgle came from the wolf and Wednesday blinked back into the room.

“My apologies; was that too fast?”

“No– no– I just– it surprised me, that’s all! You– you go at whatever speed you’re comfortable with and I-I’ll let you know if it’s too much,” Enid explained as she rubbed her own cheeks. Under her breath she mumbled, “Cheese and crackers, I did not expect that to be that fucking effective.” Wednesday quietly huffed again at the mix of childish curses and ‘fuck’ in the same sentence. Only her wolf. “I mean, hell I went farther on that first date with– Ah!”

She shot back up from the bed, nearly startling the goth, though she didn’t back away when Enid wound up even closer than before.

“Date!” Enid grinned before clearing her throat and starting again. “Let me take you on a date; tomorrow! It’s Saturday, so– uh, can I? Please?”

“Very well,” Wednesday smiled; ugh, her cheeks were starting to ache, “I accept. What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t care. I’m down for anything so long as it’s with you,” the blonde confessed, wincing slightly at how clingy she sounded but unwilling to take it back.

“Anything?” Wednesday smirked, one brow rising, “Does that mean you’re willing to undergo open-heart surgery; I’ll admit I am curious to see how a werewolf heart differs from a normies.” 

Enid smiled at her softly; at the start of their friendship she would have blanched at a statement like that. Now though...

“If you’d like; my heart already belongs to you anyway.” The blonde pulled their still clasping hands towards her, pressing her own kiss to the inside of Wednesday’s wrist; she’d swear she felt the pulse beneath her lips leap, the mere thought making her grin. The goth’s eyes widened at the same time as her cheeks darkened at the wolf’s words. She gently retrieved her hand from Enid’s grip and spun around to march to her desk.

“It’s my writing time,” she stated brusquely, setting up her typewriter with a fresh page while Enid cackled across the room.

“Oh ho, I see how it is!” the blonde grinned, the sparkle in her eyes unseen by the smaller girl, “You can dish it out just fine, but when it comes to taking it–”

“I require silence to work, Sinclair.” Wednesday griped, ears turning what Enid thought was a lovely shade of pink.

“Uh huh, sure, sure,” the blonde smiled, gaze fixed affectionately on the goth’s slim back. She watched as the smaller girl almost mechanically inserted a fresh page into her contraption, the air soon filled with a clacking staccato that seemed just a bit more jittery than normal. Enid let the non-silence reign for a minute before she cautiously broke it.

“Hey...Wednesday?”

“What,” the ravenette snapped back, though not too unkindly.

“Could I... I need to finish painting my nails,” she explained, fiddling with her fingers that still could feel the other girl’s warmth like a phantom presence. “Can I do them on the floor next to you? I promise not to say a word.”

The typing stopped for a moment, the blonde could practically hear the fingers as they flexed. After an eternity of seconds Wednesday slightly turned her head, revealing only a single darkened cheek.

“...If you promise to be quiet.”

“The quietest!” Enid squealed, immediately jumping around her half of the room to grab her supplies and one of her larger teddy bears. She skipped over to Wednesday and propped the bear up against her desk leg, dropping down to lean back against it.

The duo sat in near silence, the ravenette typing and the blonde happily adding strokes of color to her already vibrant nails. And if Wednesday moved her leg over enough that Enid could lean her shoulder against it? Well, who could stop them?