Chapter Text
Wednesday stared blankly at the typewriter. She hadn't been able to write anything all evening. More specifically, she hadn't been able to write a word in the last week. Her head was filled with a tidal wave of thoughts that did not allow her to concentrate on any of her tasks. She hadn’t told anyone about them, not even Thing, despite his many attempts to start a conversation and his insistence on her to “vent”.
A soft click followed by oblivious steps and a loud thud snapped her out of her absorption. Enid had entered the room dropping a backpack on the floor. Wednesday jumped up, startled.
“Wednesday!” exclaimed the blonde crossing the invisible line in the center of their room. She rushed into a hug that practically tackled the shorter girl. “I missed you so much!” Enid whisper-yelled in a squeeze. She could feel Wednesday’s body stiff, her arms stayed lifted, not sure what to do.
She cleared her throat and stepped back. “Enid, welcome back”, she deadpanned.
And then she saw the face she had missed so much; her wide smile, her deep blue eyes, her scars.
Her scars.
The internal tide became more intense Wednesday. She felt a lump in her throat and took a step back.
“Oh, right, still not a hugger”, Enid smiled sheepishly, taking a step back as well.
A tapping sound from the desk called her.
“Thing! Buddy, c’mere!” the hand jumped to hug Enid. “Oh I missed you too”, Enid smiled as she tried to keep up with all the signs he was making. He then pointed at Wednesday and was about to say something when Wednesday interrupted him.
“I hope you had a satisfactory recovery during your hospital stay”, she deadpanned, still trying not to look at the scars.
“It was alright”, she shrugged. “No concussions, no blood loss or heavy things. My ankle is almost healed”, said lifting her jeans showing part of an ankle support. “I just have to keep it up once in a while and do exercises and all that jazz”. She hopped back to her side and started unpacking. “Thank you for giving Yoko the plushies”, said as she took out of the bag two stuffed animals. “They really cheered me up. They’re my favs”.
“I know”, Wednesday replied quickly. Then she cleared her throat and looked away. “You must have mentioned it before”, explained nonchalantly.
They didn’t let any visitors in the hospital except from family, and the exception of Yoko, that brought her some clean clothes and the plushies. Enid took a better look at Wednesday. As she couldn't go visit her and didn't have a phone, they hadn’t talked since the Crackstone incident.
Wednesday was standing a little hunched over, swaying slightly from side to side. She looked pale, well, paler than usual. Her eye bags were dark and visible, and her eyes looked tired and out of focus. As their gazes met, Wednesday blinked once. That’s when Enid started to get worried.
“And how have you been?”, tried to ask.
“Fine”, answered Wednesday keeping her composure. “Things are quiet here. Nothing new to report”. Of course she would something like that. Maybe with more specific topics she wouldn’t dodge the question.
“And your injury?”, Enid asked.
Wednesday’s eyes were wide for the split of a second, then came back to her forced expression-less face. “My shoulder has healed well. I am perfectly fine”.
Thing signed quickly from the desk. It was too fast for Enid to catch it all, but she got a few things like “bullshit”, “nightmares” and “secluded”. Wednesday turned back and stared at him menacingly. He quickly jumped from the desk to under the bed, but not before threatening Wednesday with “YOU, TALK”. She just huffed.
“If your excuse me, I shall continue with my writing schedule. I charged your bluetooth speaker in case you would like to use it as you unpack”. And with that, she turned on her heels and sat on her desk.
“Uhm, that’s- thank you”, Enid managed to mumble, still standing in the middle of the room.
Wednesday felt like her inner storm was still going. She needed to write something, anything, to keep her mind distracted. Viper’s story wasn’t going anywhere, but she needed and excuse not to keep engaging conversation. She tried automatic writing, to keep her hands busy and her mind focused.
Enid’s mind had also a lot going on as she unpacked. Wednesday was, well, Wednesday. But she really thought they had made some progress. I mean, the hug had to be something. Maybe they had made progress, but it was slower than she thought. Wednesday hadn’t threatened her or anything, and she had thought of details to take care of Enid in a subtle way. That was something. Maybe being Wednesday’s friend was just that, and she had to accept it. But she clearly noticed that something was wrong. She decided not to push and let Wednesday have her own pace.
She turned on the speaker and played some chill music, trying not to bother her roommate’s task. She took a quick shower and took off her ankle support for the night. “I’m gonna go to bed, Wens. Good night!”, she said snuggling into her duvet as she turned off the lights on her side.
Wednesday paused briefly her writing. “Goodnight, Enid”. Enid could see how Thing was back over the bed signing something to Wednesday, but she shooed him away, and returned to her task. Thing walked away to the balcony. Wednesday finally went to bed hours later, when her repeated blinking and the cramp in her fingers prevented her from continuing.
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Enid woke up uncomfortable. She usually slept in weird twisted positions but they somehow worked. Now, no matter how she turned, her damn ankle felt sore and didn’t allowed her to fall asleep. She huffed and stared at the ceiling, crossing her arms on her chest with a scowl. It was still early morning.
She then noticed that she could hear ruffling from Wednesday’s side. She usually slept in a corpse-like position that creeped Enid out, and she was an extremely quiet sleeper. But now she was tossing and turning on her bed. Enid walked quietly towards her to check if she was okay. She was literally pushing the boundary, but when she reached the bed she saw she was sweating and mumbling in dreams with a frown. Wednesday was having some kind of nightmare.
“Wednesday?” called Enid softly. She was quite scared to wake her up. Wednesday kept mumbling with a tense jaw. “Wednesday”, called again, more firmly. No answer. “Wednesday, please wake up”. She rose her hand and gently shook her shoulder.
Her eyes snapped open and she jumped up, grabbing a knife from under her pillow. “Don’t touch me!”, she threatened with blind rage as she swayed trying to keep her balance, her fringe and a loose lock of hair covering her face.
“Wednesday, it’s okay, it’s just me”, Enid’s voice shook as she rose her hands in an attempt to appease. Enid wasn’t scared, she was worried. What could leave Wednesday so upset?
Wednesday blinked twice and lowered the knife, putting it on her desk. Her breathing was still rough. “You were having a nightmare”, explained Enid with a soft voice.
Wednesday nodded and swallowed. “I'm sorry that my inconvenience has disturbed your sleep, you can go back to bed now”, she deadpanned as she sat at the edge of the bed with a blank stare. She let out a deep sigh and leaned forward, putting a hand over her stomach, grabbing her pajama shirt with a clenched fist.
Crackstone had killed her, again. Like he had almost every night since it happened. In her dreams, Goody didn’t save her. And when she woke up, she could still feel it. All her blood, all her warmth and life spilling out through the hole in her abdomen. A ghost pain still lingered every time she lost her breath.
Enid was looking at her concerned. She sat down next to her. “Breathe, Wednesday”, said softly. Wednesday hugged herself tighter. This was not supposed to be happening. Enid wasn’t leaving. Why wasn’t she leaving? Wednesday tried to steady her breathing. She could try that at least. She closed her eyes and counted. She hadn’t noticed she was slightly shaking, and that Enid was rubbing her back gently in circles. She could feel the warmth of the blonde’s hand passing through her shirt.
“Do you wanna talk about it?”, Enid asked softly. Wednesday didn’t say anything. Instead she stared at the floor. Thing had insisted on talking about what was happening to her, even if he didn’t know entirely what it was. She hadn’t told anyone, not even him, about this and other nightmares she had been having.
“I’m fine”, replied with a raspy voice, “It’s not important, you can go back to bed”.
Enid stopped rubbing her back and made the feint of getting up, but stopped herself. “Wednesday, let me take care of you for once”. '
For once?' She had taken care of her before. Enid always had taken care of her, even when she didn’t ask for it and pushed her away. She had literally saved her life, for goodness’ sake. The memories of that night made Wednesday’s stomach twist again. She closed her eyes with a huff. She couldn't hide the situation for long, at least not from Enid.
“That night”, said Wednesday, back to her controlled monotone voice. She didn’t need to explain which night she was talking about. Enid turned herself to look at her. “That night, I… died”, her last word came as a whisper.
“Wednesday, what are you talking about?” Enid asked confused.
“I mean that that night I should have literally died”, she added.
“Don’t say that”, Enid’s hand flinched on the shorter girl’s back.
“No, what I mean is…”, explained Wednesday, trying not to get frustrated. At Enid, at the conversation, at herself. “Crackstone stabbed me. Back in the crypt, before we fought him. Laurel chained me up and used my blood to revive him. Before heading to Nevermore he stabbed me. Fatally”. She felt sloppy. Words weren’t coming to her. She almost was stuttering. She pushed herself to continue. “And I just couldn’t… I lost a lot of blood. And I just felt it. The cold, the fainting. But then Goody saved me. She somehow healed the injury so I could live and defeat him”.
Enid was looking at her with absolute horror. Wednesday looked at her hands and fidgeted with her fingers to avoid lifting her head up. “And almost every night since, I seem to have the same dreams”, she continued with a low voice, “Crackstone stabs me, I die, but Goody doesn’t rescue me. And it hurts. When I wake up, it stills hurts. More, even. I feel that cold again, and I can’t breathe”.
“Oh, Wens…” Enid hugged her, but Wednesday didn’t move. She could still feel the freezing cold and her stomach sore. Enid broke the hug and brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Can I see it?” Wednesday looked at her briefly and lifted her shirt, showing the large scar on her abdomen. Enid gasped.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”, she whispered, now utterly concerned.
“I saw no use. I’m not hurt, as I told you”, she deadpanned.
Enid pursed her lips in frustration. “You’re not physically hurt, but you’re clearly affected. It’s a huge trauma material”.
Wednesday crossed her arms over her chest. “I told you, I’m fine”.
Enid crossed her leg over the bed to face her. “You’re not”, she snarled, angry. Even Wednesday was surprised by her reaction. “You have these dreams every night, you stutter, you sway and you blink. You even look paler than usual”, Enid listed.
“I haven’t been going outside much these days, it’s not a big deal”, scoffed Wednesday as she rolled her eyes.
“It’s been days and you haven’t left the room, yet alone talk to anyone?”, insisted the blonde.
“Thing is enough company”, she stated.
“You haven’t talked to him either. You barely sleep or eat”, accused Enid. “You interrupted him but I figured that part out”.
“I’m my own person”, Wednesday gritted her teeth. “Why are you scolding me over my daily habits?” she smuged as she rose her chin up.
“Because”, Enid rose a finger at her, dramatically, “I’m your best friend and I’m worried and I have the right to intervene when you don't take care of yourself”, she remarked the last words in a tone that left no room for discussion.
Wednesday sat with her legs crossed and looked at her hands. Enid wasn’t leaving. She never does. She gave in, seeing that Enid was not going to accept her evasions. “I have been having some other… nightmares”, she finally said. Enid sat crossed her legs as well to face her. She put her hand on her knee and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
“They’re about… you”, Wednesday started, slowly. It was getting hard to handle her words again. “You… you lose the fight. And Tyler wins. And there’s nothing I can do. You try to save me but… I can’t save you. And I just see you… there. And it’s all my fault”.
Enid tried to hold back her tears. She had had nightmares about that too, but the other way around. Her losing the fight and not being able to save Wednesday. “But that didn’t happen, Wens”, she said with the softest voice. “We won. We survived. And I’m here. I’m here safe, with you.”
Wednesday decided not to look at her and continue. The waves in her brain made her spill everything like a waterfall. She couldn’t stop now, she needed to let all the storm out. “But there’s another dream in which none of that happens. Goody saves me, you win the fight. But when you get out of the hospital, you don’t come back. Because you hate me. And it’s all my fault. And you’re right. I know you’re right, and that’s what hurts. It’s my fault you got into that fight. It’s my fault you have those scars. It’s my fault you got hurt”.
“Wednesday, it was my decision to get into that fight. And I got these scars and I don’t care, because I did save you then it’s all worth it”, replied Enid firmly.
There was a pause, a tense silence.
“Why do you keep doing this?”, asked Wednesday, looking at her. Her dark eyes were at the verge of tears, her voice started to shake.
“Doing what?” Enid replied in genuine confusion.
“This”, she looked at her hands, she tensed her fingers in a desperate gesture. “Being nice to me. Forgiving me. Coming back. Why do you keep coming back, Enid? I hurt you. It’s all I ever do to you".
“You’re my best friend”, she said holding Wednesday's hands so they would stop trembling. “Gosh, you’re probably the best thing that had happened to me, believe it or not”.
Wednesday shook her head. Her eyes started watering. “I don’t understand. I hurt you and still you come back. I don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve this”.
“Don’t say that, Wens”, replied softly as she cupped Wednesday’s cheek with one hand.
“I just can’t stand it”, she breathed out in a small voice, barely a whisper. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you”.
And with that sentence, Wednesday broke down. She couldn’t even finish it properly before breaking into sobs, cleaning the heavy tears with the back of her hand before they could run down her cheek. Enid had never seen Wednesday like this. Probably no one had ever seen her like this, not even Wednesday herself. Enid tackled her into a hug and held her by the back of her neck and her back. She could feel sobs and gasps against her shoulder.
She didn’t hide it, she didn’t conceal it. Wednesday just let all her worries and nightmares spill through with no filter, crying loudly in Enid’s arms, feeling how that knot inside her chest that hadn’t been letting her breath slowly unraveled itself. Enid held her tight, she stroked her hair and rubbed her back, she kissed her head and whispered soothing words to her. Wednesday still felt the pain and the guilt, but she also felt the warmth and forgiveness embracing her.
When she couldn’t spill any more tears and her breath steadied again, Wednesday sniffed and pulled away gently, cleaning her face with the back of her hands. “How do people do this?”, she groaned with raspy voice.
Enid chuckled. “But do you feel better?” Wednesday took a moment to consider as she bit the inside of her cheeks.
She looked back at Enid with puffy eyes. “I do”.
Enid smiled fondly at her. She had also cried.
“Let me get you a tissue”, said as she walked up to her desk and grab the tissue box. She handled it to Wednesday and blew her nose facing away. She stared at the tissue with a blush, noticeably embarrassed.
“I feel exhausted”, admitted Wednesday.
“Well, letting out your emotions is exhausting”, Enid smiled. “We should rest”, sighed as she stood up to get back to her bed.
“Wait” Wednesday grabbed her wrist, but immediately released her. She looked down and fidgeted with her hands. Enid waited for her to say something, but Wednesday didn’t seem to find the words.
“You want me to stay?” Wednesday nodded. Since she always had that menacing aura around her, Enid had never realized how small she was.
“If it is not too much inconvenience”, she added.
“Of course not”, Enid smiled fondly.
Wednesday pulled back the sheets and instead of her usual corpse position, she laid on her side, curling herself with her hands on her stomach. She had gotten used to sleeping like this those days after the nightmares. Enid lied by her side, and spooned her, placing her arm over Wednesday’s waist and her hand on her stomach. At first she flinched, but then she felt the warmth over the ghost scar and embraced it.
“Goodnight, Enid”, whisper Wednesday with a deep sigh.
“Rest well, Willa”, whispered Enid back. She placed her chin over Wednesday’s head and snuggled her closer. She could feel the shorter girl’s body relax.
Their breaths became in sync not long after.