Work Text:
Wednesday couldn’t remember the last time she had gotten more than an hour or so of sleep at a time. That was fine, though, she had much more important things to do with her time anyway, even if she was starting to feel the effects of sleep depravation no matter how much she tried to just push them aside. Besides, the weekend was finally here so now she could rest for a few hours while the other students went about doing whatever it was that normal teenagers did on a late Friday afternoon.
Unfortunately, that plan was quickly thrown on its head when, just as Wednesday was putting away her typewriter so she could get ready for bed, Enid barged into their room. She had already started talking before she even opened the door so it took a moment for Wednesday to figure out what she was trying to say, dread filling her as soon as the meaning of Enid’s words finally occurred to her.
“…this party tonight, and I promise it’s not going to be a big thing, just some of our friends, but I think it’ll be really fun and I’d love to go but I think you might enjoy it too if you let yourself and I’d really love it if you went with me. I’ll make sure the others don’t bother you too much but I’ve barely seen you this week and I miss you so please go to the party with me?”
Wednesday fully intended to refuse, the words to do so were already taking form in her mind while Enid was still rambling on about all the reasons she thought Wednesday should agree, but then Enid looked at her with those wide eyes full of hope and affection, and she told her that she missed her, and suddenly Wednesday found herself agreeing, even though that was the last thing she wanted.
“Fine, I’ll go with you. But I’m not staying for too long and if any of your friends decide to bother me I cannot guarantee their safety.”
Maybe the worst part of it all was that Wednesday couldn’t even bring herself to regret the words, not when they brought such unbridled joy to Enid’s face. Wednesday almost kissed her then and there, but that would have distracted them both enough that they would have forgotten all about that stupid party, and then Enid would be upset to have missed it, so Wednesday held herself back.
Judging by the look on her face, Enid was probably thinking the same thing, and that made it all the harder for Wednesday to control herself. She had to turn back to her desk just so she wouldn’t cross the empty space between her and her girlfriend, even if it hurt to not be looking at her any longer. The complete lack of sleep definitely didn’t make it any easier, either.
Enid had been squealing and rambling and walking back and forth across their room ever since Wednesday agreed – as if she would ever have said no – and there was no sign that she would so much as slow down any time soon. Despite herself, Wednesday nearly smiled at her enthusiasm, though that only lasted for a moment before her mind – assisted by Enid’s rambling – not-so-helpfully reminded her that her evening plans had just been ruined and replaced with socializing. She shuddered at the thought.
The next hour or so passed quickly as they both got ready for whatever social gathering Enid was going to drag Wednesday to, and they left their safe and comfortable room all too soon. Wednesday almost changed her mind right then and there, standing in the doorway, but then Enid took her hand and threaded their fingers together and all the fight left Wednesday’s mind. Enid always had that effect on her and Wednesday had long since stopped trying to fight it.
Just a few minutes later, they arrived at the Nightshades library, walking down the hidden stairs side by side, their hands still connected and serving as an anchor to keep Wednesday grounded. She still wanted to flee back to their room and maybe sleep for the next twelve hours, but having Enid by her side made things slightly more bearable, even if she could already hear her classmates’ grating voices echo through the closed doors.
Because Enid was absolutely amazing and the best girlfriend in the entire world, she noticed and let Wednesday linger outside for another moment or two so she could steel herself before slowly leading her closer towards the door. They didn’t bother knocking but no one seemed to mind, most people in the room – and there were a lot of them, at least in Wednesday’s not-so-humble opinion – didn’t even look their way until Enid called out a greeting into the room and waved at her friends the way she always did when she first entered a room full of people.
Some of them stared when they noticed Wednesday but a handful of well-placed glares ensured that no one commented on how unusual it was for Wednesday Addams to voluntarily attend any social gathering that wasn’t in any way connected to death or suffering. Or at the very least they made to keep their thoughts quiet enough that neither Wednesday nor Enid, who was still holding her hand, could hear them. Wednesday decided to just ignore them, at least for the time being.
After a somewhat tense moment, everyone went back to their previous conversations and Wednesday could breathe again, at least until Enid used the hold she still had on her girlfriend’s hand to drag her to a relatively dark corner of the room, where someone had placed several couches in a semi-circle. Most of the spots were already taken up by Enid’s friends, but the smallest sofa, which just so happened to be hidden in the darkest corner, was still unoccupied.
There would have been more than enough space for two people to sit comfortably with plenty of empty room between them but neither Enid nor Wednesday were even remotely interested in being separated by even the tiniest sliver of air so Enid sat down more or less in the middle of the couch so Wednesday could squeeze in between her and one of the sofa’s armrests.
People were talking to them and Enid was talking right back but Wednesday didn’t listen to a single word anyone said, even if she didn’t like ignoring her girlfriend this way. She knew that Enid wouldn’t mind and most likely wasn’t saying anything particularly interesting anyway but Wednesday still felt somewhat bad about it.
She really tried to listen at first, but her mind refused to focus on anything other than the sound of Enid’s voice, and on how much she missed it whenever someone else was talking. The sleep depravation was really taking hold now so she could barely even keep her eyes open, much less focus on the meaningless ramblings of the people she refused to think of as her peers.
Despite her exhaustion, Wednesday sat just as rigidly straight as she always did, her body tense but her head held high. She felt like she was swaying slightly but no one else seemed to notice anything, not even Enid, so she was probably doing a pretty good job of hiding it, at least at first. It was getting harder, though, and soon all Wednesday could think about was how nice it would be to just give in and go to sleep.
If it had been just her and Enid, Wednesday would have easily given in and leaned against her girlfriend’s warm and enticing body, but she couldn’t do that while there were other people around. She might no longer be actively suspicious of Enid’s friends but that didn’t mean she would just completely let down her guard around them. So she kept her eyes open and her body upright as if she were entirely awake and not about to pass out from exhaustion.
But Enid looked so comfortable and Wednesday was so tired. She fought it as long as she could but even an Addams could not stay awake and alert forever, no matter what some of her family members said. So, lulled into a sense of security by the darkness surrounding her and the steady sound of Enid’s voice in her ear, Wednesday gave in to temptation and closed her eyes, telling herself that it would only be for a moment.
Enid was slightly surprised but not even remotely startled when Wednesday suddenly slumped over beside her. She knew that her girlfriend hadn’t been getting much sleep lately but she had insisted that she was fine and that she wanted to accompany Enid to the party rather than stay behind to catch up on the sleep she had been denying herself during the week.
She looked calm, almost peaceful, and everyone else was very obviously staring at how different she looked when her face was relaxed. Enid could feel their eyes burning holes not only into her girlfriend but also herself, but she decided to ignore all of that, at least for the moment. She couldn’t help it, she always had to watch Wednesday for at least a little while when she fell asleep by her side. It was just so adorable, even if she probably shouldn’t tell Wednesday that.
After a long time spent basking in the greatness that was Wednesday’s sleeping face burrowing into her shoulder, Enid finally managed to tear her eyes away to at least attempt to glare at her staring friends. The small smile she couldn’t hold back and the blush that had most definitely overtaken her face diminished its effect more than a bit but most of the other people sitting around her at least had the grace to pretend like they were ashamed by their behaviour.
Unfortunately, Yoko and Bianca clearly had no shame since both of them were wearing matching grins so wide it looked like their faces were about to split apart. Enid considered growling at them because maybe that would get them to back off, but she didn’t want to disturb Wednesday’s well-deserved and much-needed rest so she just frowned before turning to look at her girlfriend again, her face brightening up as soon as she caught sight of her beautiful face.
Yoko let out an undignified snort at the sudden shift in her demeanour and Enid went back to scowling at her. She really liked her best friend but sometimes she just didn’t get when Enid wanted her to drop a topic. Yoko’s “overcommitment to the bit” – to use her own words – had already lead to more than one fight between the friends but Enid was determined to not let that happen this time, no matter how infuriating Yoko could get.
Enid tried to somehow get her to shut up using just her eyes when Wednesday let out a small sigh in her sleep and shifted closer until they were pressed against each other from knee to shoulder. Wednesday sighed again and Enid felt herself grow redder than she had ever been before. Everyone was looking at them now, even the people who hadn’t originally been part of their conversation, back before Wednesday fell asleep and Enid’s mind decided to shut itself down for the foreseeable future.
They weren’t trying to hide their relationship or anything like that – they had both been far too happy to keep it to themselves when they finally got together almost five months ago – but Wednesday wasn’t big on PDA so they rarely did more than hold hands when other people could see them. Enid didn’t really mind, especially because Wednesday always more than made up for it as soon as they were back in the privacy of their room. Besides, people always stared when she and Wednesday got particularly close and all of that attention always made Enid uncomfortable.
Even now, surrounded only by her friends, she could feel her skin crawling under everyone’s eyes. If she hadn’t loved Wednesday so much, Enid would have probably just pushed her away or at the very least shaken her awake, but she did so the thought didn’t even occur to her. Instead, she just tried to sink back into the shadows as much as possible and internally begged the universe to let someone change the topic.
After a long time, someone did, and everyone slowly stopped staring, though Enid could still feel the occasional glance sent their way. She did her best to ignore them and didn’t say anything for a long time, just to avoid drawing any extra attention. It wasn’t like she wanted to be ignored or anything like that, but Wednesday resting against her was special and private, and she wanted to keep it all for herself as much as she could, even if that meant letting Yoko say the dumbest things and not correcting her even if she really deserved it.
Things were almost comfortable after a while, even if there was a lot of energy building up in Enid, just begging to be released. Usually, she would have just gotten up to walk around the room a few times but now she didn’t even want to readjust her position because she was worried that Wednesday would wake up if she moved. It was really a miracle that she was sleeping in the first place, and that the voices of the people around them hadn’t already pulled her back to consciousness a long time ago.
But then another thought came to Enid’s mind and suddenly she felt terrible, like she was the worst girlfriend in the entire world. Sure, she hadn’t forced Wednesday to come or anything like that – really, she had only said that she was going to go to the party and casually mentioned that Wednesday could come along if she wanted to – but Wednesday had clearly been missing out on a lot of sleep lately and now Enid had dragged her out of their room just when she might have finally been able to get some rest.
And now Wednesday was sleeping in public, and in a position that couldn’t possibly be comfortable and would most likely leave her with tension and even pain in her neck and shoulders for days to come. She always said that she enjoyed pretty much all sensations most people disliked, but this kind of pain would impact her writing time, and that wouldn’t be fun for anyone involved. Enid would have to do something about it, and soon.
“I think I’ll take Wednesday back to our room, it looks like she hasn’t gotten much sleep lately…”
Yoko looked like she was about to say something stupid again but a harsh elbow jammed into her side by one of their friends luckily got her to shut up and just show Enid a particularly mischievous grin instead. In any other situation, Enid would have retaliated in some way, most likely with a playfully mean joke or something like that, but she was far too distracted by the way Wednesday was clinging to her to pay attention to anything or anyone else.
It was a slow process to move Wednesday first onto Enid’s lap so her legs were resting sideways across her thighs and her head was still nestled into Enid’s shoulder, and then properly into her arms. One of Enid’s arms was already holding Wednesday in place around her shoulders but it felt a bit strange to manoeuvre the other underneath her knees while all of their friends were watching with open curiosity.
You couldn’t tell just by looking at her but Enid had gotten a lot stronger ever since she first wolfed out and Wednesday didn’t weigh much anyway so it was no trouble at all to lift her up and carry her off the couch and towards the door. She stumbled a bit, not because she was carrying her girlfriend’s entire weight in her arms but because Wednesday’s sleeping mind chose that exact moment to turn her face into the crook of Enid’s neck to place a small kiss there. It was barely even a brush of her lips but Enid’s legs nearly gave out from under her from that small touch alone.
She was probably bright red at this point and decided to flee the room as fast as she could. That way, she could at least put off being mocked by her friends until the next time they all saw each other, after Wednesday slept for at least twelve hours. Now that she was finally sleeping, Enid would do everything in her power to keep her that way for as long as possible because once Wednesday woke up again, she would most likely go right back to working until she was way beyond exhausted, at which point she would pass out again.
It had been like that for nearly a month now, ever since Wednesday had discovered a new mystery and the plot for her next novel at the same time and decided to work on both in every single moment of free time she could find, which included the hours she usually slept. Enid had mostly grown used to it at this point, but she still worried.
So she ignored the comments her friends where shouting after them and carried Wednesday up the stairs of the Nightshades library as carefully as she could. She was worried that every step might startle her awake again, or that she would somehow miss one of the countless strange protrusions that were all over the wall and ram her girlfriend’s head against it the entire time.
As if those thoughts weren’t already worrying enough, Enid also couldn’t stop thinking that a teacher was about to spot them and get them both in trouble for breaking curfew every time there was a shadowy corner or an empty doorway on their long way back to Ophelia Hall. They did eventually make it there safely and without being caught, though, even if there was a close call that lead to Enid having to squeeze both of them into a broom closet to avoid one of the more nocturnal staff members just in time to see them coming around a corner. If there hadn’t been a strange sound coming from the other side of the building, they would have certainly been spotted.
When Enid had finally carried Wednesday all the way to the top floor of their dorm building, another issue came up. Right there in front of them was the door to their room, and of course it was closed and locked, just like always. This wouldn’t have been an issue in any other situation but with Wednesday taking up both of her arms, Enid had no idea how she was supposed to reach her keys in her pocket and unlock the door.
She was still standing there and thinking when the door suddenly swung open to reveal Thing clinging to its handle from the inside. He jumped off the door handle and scuttled aside with a small wave, then he disappeared back into his favourite dark corner to give Enid and Wednesday some privacy as they get ready for bed.
Enid tried to place Wednesday down on her bed so she could get changed but the sleeping girl tightened her hold on Enid’s neck as soon as she tried to move away, clinging as if her life depended on it and even letting out a demanding whine in her sleep. Of course Enid gave in almost immediately, just like she always did. Besides, she was kind of tired too, so she just kicked off her shoes and gently nudged Wednesday aside so she could lie down next to her.
Wednesday wound herself around Enid immediately, rolling half on top of her and burrowing herself as deep into her arms as she possibly could, as if she were trying to fuse them together into one collected being, all without waking up even slightly. Enid held her back just as tightly and was asleep within the minute, happy and comfortable with Wednesday in her arms.