Chapter Text
Turns out, Wednesday did text Xavier over the break.
Several times.
And each time his name appeared on that shiny glass screen she felt her heart race, her palms sweat, her insides jitter. Just as they did when she suspected him of being the Hyde. She knew he was innocent now. So why was she still experiencing the symptoms of being hot on the trail of a psychopathic killer?
She had no choice but to consult the master of manipulation. The day before she was to return to Nevermore, she cornered Morticia in the Addams manor carnivorous plant nursery. She loomed behind her mother for several moments, watching as she fed mealy looking worms to their Venus fly trap, Brahms.
“What is it, darling?” Morticia asked serenely, setting the now empty petri dish on the counter separating the fly trap and the monkey cup plant, two bitter rivals.
“How did you and father meet?” She forced the words out, gripping the edges of her sweater with her black nails.
Morticia gave her a curious look. “You know we met at Nevermore, Wednesday.”
“No, I know, I mean-” Wednesday stopped and huffed, trying to find the right words. Even she wasn't totally sure what she was asking. “How did you know that he… that you… Why did you date?”
Her mother’s eyes widen, and she makes a motion for Wednesday to follow her to the bay window. They sat on the black wicker bench, the view of their backyard through the window perfect- fog over the headstones, dark enough to rain, windy enough to storm. It’s a shame they were wasting it on such a humiliating subject, Wednesday thought.
“Is this for your novel?” Morticia asks in a way that lets Wednesday know she doesn’t really believe this is for the novel at all. Wednesday had been careful to keep her communication with Xavier private, but the older woman always had a way of knowing when something was up. Psychics were annoying that way. Mothers, too.
“Yes.” Wednesday grits out, her eyes narrowing into slits. Morticia smiles, touching the end of Wednesday’s left plait softly.
“Very well.” She settles into the bench a little more, a dreamlike haze falling over her eyes. “When I first met your father, I was in the greenhouse with Cleopatra,” referencing the African strangler plant she’s had for decades, “speaking to her in French. It helps her absorb the nutrients in her food. Every day after that, he would come to the greenhouse to listen to me speak French to Cleo. He claimed I enchanted him.”
She shook her head softly before continuing. “I was more interested in being Nevermore's best and brightest. I wanted to be top of my class, captain of the fencing team. I wanted to excel in everything the academy had to offer. I was a bit competitive you see... Cousin It had always been the family favorite. I wanted to take him down. And I did, of course. But…”
“Over time your father became like a festering, chronic disease. My face fevered every time he was near. I would become twitchy, anxious, biting… his presence was a severe stimulant and his touch settled over me like a haze, centering me in all the right ways.”
“Mother.” Wednesday snapped, and Morticia smiled, holding up her hands in surrender.
“All I’m saying is there was no way around it.”
Just as Wednesday feared.
No way around it.
____________________
Lurch dropped Wednesday off the day before classes began. Xavier had returned a few days prior, his father abandoning him for yet another tour, this one to be filmed and distributed in time for the next bout of holidays.
She had grown desperate to find out if she truly was like her mother, if the tortured artist’s touch could help reel in this insanely humiliating feeling Wednesday had whenever she thought of him. She instructed Thing to stay in the dorm and wait for Enid. Then she scaled the boy’s dorm walls until she found that familiar balcony.
She pushed the large rectangular glass open with ease and slipped inside, her heart attempting to pound clean out of her chest. Maybe it would. She could leave it on his floor as a gift, which was the most romantic thought she'd ever had... it was very annoying. She took a deep breath and raised her head to find… no one.
Her brow creased. She looked to her left. Rowan’s side of the room was still abandoned. Xavier’s sketchbooks and easels were still littered around the right side. His bedding looked slept in, a thought that made her chest heave. He had been here. She didn’t hear anything from the bathroom.
“Damn it.” She cursed under her breath. All this anxiety turning the tides of her stomach over for nothing. Perhaps this was a sign. She always knew she wasn't the girlfriend type. Maybe the universe was telling her not to waste his time.
Just as she turned to climb back out the window and begin her treacherous journey down the six floor building, the door swung open and two laughs filled the silent space. Wednesday froze, turning to see Ajax and Xavier looking down at something playing on Ajax’s phone.
She weighed her options for a millisecond before Ajax looked up and flinched.
“Holy shit!” He took a huge step back. One of the serpents on his mane of hair dipped from below his beanie to check out the scene, but zipped right back into the safety of the knit hat after seeing Wednesday.
Xavier looked up, amusement and pure shock coloring his gaze. “Wednesday.” He sounded all too pleased.
“You’re busy.” She stated curly. “I’ll see myself out.”
“No, no.” Xavier handed the phone back to Ajax without taking his eyes off her. “He was just walking me back.”
“Yeah, later man.” Ajax said. It sounded like he was smiling. Wednesday wouldn't know, she was still staring down Xavier. The door clicked. They were alone.
“When did you get here?” Xavier crossed the room, sitting on Rowan’s neglected bed. Wednesday felt that familiar pull to him. The pull she thought was telling her he was the monster she was seeking, but has turned out to be something much, much more sinister. He looked so pretty. It was vile.
“Nevermore, or your dorm?” She asked, not sure where to go or what to do with her hands. She kept them by her sides, rigid, like a soldier facing execution.
“I meant Nevermore, but actually- when did you get in my dorm?” He laughed a little breathlessly, leaning back on his hands, a false presentation of relaxation.
“Just a few moments ago.”
“So, did you need me, or am I to believe Wednesday Addams came all this way just to hang out with me?” His hair was half up, half down and seemed to glimmer in moonlight. Her palms itched, wanting to run her hands through it. She cursed herself. She barely heard what he just said, her hormones getting the best of her.
Xavier wasn't the impatient type, clearly. He sat and waited for her answer, her excuse for breaking into his dorm. He wondered privately if he was about to be accused of another crime, or asked on another date under false pretenses. He examined her silhouette in the moonlight, her slight frame and sparkling dark eyes.
Wednesday finally mustered up the courage to say something she had never dreamed herself saying in a thousand years. There was, at least, something comforting in the way she felt as though she was biting the bullet with what she said next.
“I came to ask you if I can kiss you.”
Xavier sat up jerkily, his eyes as wide as saucers. He blinked multiple times, terrified that this was a cruel prank.
“You want to kiss me?” His voice was higher than usual in shock. Wednesday nodded, sharp and quick. He licked his lips nervously, hands running down his thighs in a panic. “Obviously, yes.”
“I resent your use of the word obviously. It’s probably a bad idea. I just very recently framed you for murder and sent you to jail.” She was rambling. She clamped her mouth shut. Don’t be a coward, she told herself.
“So are you going to kiss me? Or tell me why you even want to?” He had never been so simultaneously delighted and confused. His knee began to bounce in anticipation.
“I think I mistook my attraction to you for suspicion that you were slicing open the guts of the townspeople.” Xavier’s brows shot up, his knee stilled, and he swallowed. His heart did a victory lap, fist pumping to an imaginary crowd as the word attraction echoed in his mind. The girl of his dreams, a girl who resented emotions at their very core, was standing in front of him telling him she was attracted to him. “After I found out who the actual Hyde was, it didn’t stop me from feeling nervous around you. My mother seems to think physical affection is the only way to test the theory.”
He grew impossibly more surprised. “You told your mother about me?”
“Not in so many words.” Wednesday was now done with the small talk. It was frustrating and embarrassing her. She crossed the room in three strides, impressive for her short stance. She positioned herself between Xavier’s legs. Him sitting brought them to an even level. “I’m going to kiss you now.” She warned him, resting his hands on his shoulders.
“Yes, yeah.” He nodded. “Can I touch you, or do you want me to stay still?”
She resisted the urge to smirk at his eagerness, at his readiness to do whatever she said. “You can touch me as you see fit, I suppose.”
He nodded, his hands resting on her waist. His long fingers wrapping around the sensitive area made her stomach coil and purr hotly. She took a deep breath, grounding herself before pressing her permanently plum stained lips into his. He returned the kiss very gently at first, and the contact sent a sharp thrill down Wednesday’s spine. Her muscles contracted in pleasure at the touch and she pressed into his lips a little more firmly, needy for more connection.
He kissed back with fervor, his hand sliding up her side and resting on her neck. She was appalled at how much she was enjoying this. She felt like she stand here and kiss him all night and not be plagued with boredom, a feeling that found her all too often. She hated how she noticed how pillowy his lips were, how much she liked it. She pulled away sharply, staring at him with wide eyes.
“Are you okay? Was it bad?” Xavier was immediately concerned, his hand not leaving her neck, instead using it to angle her head to get a better look at her expression.
“It was… I didn’t know kissing was like that.” She admitted quietly.
“Didn’t you kiss Galpin?” Xavier asked, genuinely curious but also residually bitter. She nodded, her eyes slowly returning to their original gaze.
“Yes, but it was just our mouths touching. It was what I thought it would be like. This is much different... I find myself with the desire to smother you.” She explained, as if that would make her reaction clear to him. He cocked his head to the side.
“You want to-”
Wednesday closed her mouth over his before he could continue, moving her hands to grip his shirt. He scooted back on the bed, welcoming her into his lap, which she straddled without a moment’s hesitation. He let his hands return to her waist, pressing her impossibly closer to his core. She could feel his heart beat against her chest, a sensation that was all too thrilling for her. Her body lit up everywhere they were connected, hot fire coursing through her in the best way. He let out a groan as she bit into his bottom lip, softly at first and then a little harder, dragging it back towards her before enveloping him in another kiss.
Their passionate make-out continued for what must have been at least a half hour, feeling like mere minutes to them. Finally, Wednesday pulled herself away, an act of self torture.
“Mmph.” Xavier made a noise of complaint.
“I have to get back soon. Enid will chew me out if I’m not there when she arrives.” The excuse is lame. In reality, she was becoming overwhelmed with just how much she felt for Xavier and needed time to smack some of this giddiness out of her. Perhaps she would stick sewing needles in her thigh until she came back to reality.
Xavier smirked, removing his hands from her waist slowly, daring her to be the first to break their cocoon. She blinked once, her body begging her to stay. She forced herself to crawl off his lap, expression still dazed. He honestly could not recall a time he had ever been happier. “Tell Thing and Enid I say hi.”
“No.” Wednesday said it so curtly that it made Xavier laugh, deep and loud.
“Right, sorry, what was I thinking?”
“I’d like to kiss you again, soon.” Wednesday said, taking a few steps back to the window. Xavier stood and followed her, like a hunter stalking its prey. The comparison made Wednesday swoon.
“I’d love that, Wednesday.” His voice was so deep with sincerity it made her head spin. “Can I give you a kiss goodbye?”
She should say no. That felt far too domestic. Far too similar to her parents. But her eyes fell on his kiss-swollen lips and she nodded hungrily, pressing up on her tiptoes. He bent down and gave her a kiss, this one far more tender and chaste than the heated ones they just exchanged. It made her eyes burn with longing when he parted, his green eyes twinkling with glee.
“See you in class.” He said, then cursed himself for sounding so lame. She said nothing, just hopped out onto the balcony and down to the next ledge. He ambled back towards his own bed, flopping down dramatically to replay the past hour of his life on loop. He fell asleep smiling with the phantom feeling of Wednesday in his lap, her hands on his chest.