Friday Addams || Xavier Thorpe

6

"Friday!" A voice called out through the haze as my brain cleared from being knocked unconscious. I turned to the side to see my sister still sleeping peacefully. Once my vision cleared, I could make out a figure similar to the resident 'tortured artist' Enid had shown us on our tour. He seemed relieved that I was okay which sent a feeling of warmth running down my spine. "Welcome back. Just take it easy. Nurse said you don't have a concussion, but you probably have a pretty nasty bump, huh?"

I slowly sat up against the back of the bed and touched the back of my head, feeling a round bump from the smack against the stone. I nodded my head as my twin mimicked the action of sitting. "Wednesday!" I quietly shouted, relieved that my sister had not been hit too hard.

"The last thing I remember was walking outside feeling a mixture of rage, pity, and self-disgust. I never felt that way before," she said somewhat groggily from just waking up.

"I remember trying to comfort you as we went through the rain." My eyes darted between both Wednesday and Xavier. My twin furrowed her eyebrows while the boy stared at both of us with an empathetic smile on his face.

"Losing to Bianca has that effect on people, I think." I assumed that Bianca might have been the cause of his pain during their breakup due to his reactions toward her.

"Then I looked up and saw that gargoyle coming down and I thought, "At least I'll have an imaginative death." Then you tackled me out of the way. Why?"

At this Xavier clicked his tongue while thinking of an answer to her question. "Call it instinct."

"So you were guided by latent chivalry, the tool of patriarchy, to extract my undying gratitude?"

"Mm-hmm," the boy hummed. He saved us because he couldn't just watch us die. It was the right thing to do and Wednesday would not be able to understand that since it was the opposite of what she would do.

"Wednesday, most people just say thank you," I pointedly remarked.

My twin faced me for a moment before addressing Xavier. "I didn't want to be rescued."

"I'm glad you rescued both of us." I was speaking for both of us in that sentence since Wednesday would never say thank you.

"I shoulda just let that thing smash you to mush?"

"I would have rather saved myself."

Xavier scoffed at her stubbornness and continued the conversation. "Good to see you haven't changed. If makes you feel any better, let's just say I returned the favour. Xavier Thorpe? You probably don't remember me. Last time we met, I was about two feet shorter, 40 pounds heavier." He gestured to his body which was a lot more lanky and tall.

"What happened?" I asked, wanting to know what happened the last time we met.

"Puberty, I guess." He breathed out before giving the response. Seemingly exasperated.

"What happened the last time we met?" I clarified after chuckling at his response. I thought I would remember a face such as his with beautiful eyes. I chided myself for thinking of his beauty as much as I did admire him.

"Oh. Uh. Yeah, it... it was my godmother's funeral. She was friends with your grandmother, and they spent their twenties in Europe, swindling the rich and notorious. I don't know, but we were ten, and we were bored, decided to play hide and seek. I had the inspired idea to hide in her casket. I got stuck as it was headed to the crematorium."

I slowly began remembering while Wednesday continued with her side of the story. I had been worried, believing someone to be stuck inside or that his godmother was going to be cremated alive. My sister thought quite the opposite. "I'd heard muffled screams. I just figured your godmother had cheated death and was trying to claw her way out."

"Either way, Friday hit the big red stop button and saved me from being flame-broiled. So... now we're even." After that, Wednesday left me alone to sit with Xavier and talk. I think she had begun to notice my liking toward him and decided she had better things to do. I didn't think she should walk around with a head injury, but I wouldn't be able to stop her if I tried

"So... to help brighten her response... I will definitely say 'thank you for saving me.' I did not want to die despite my sister's wishes and it was greatly appreciated."

"It really was no problem. It caused me no trouble other than apparently ruining Wednesday's big plans for death." He smirked in his own little arrogant way, making me fall for him even more. He was handsome in every way.

"Yeah, she was probably mostly joking about that. Sometimes it's hard to tell with her." I nervously scratched the back of my head. "We could take up that fencing match once this nasty headache is gone. I wouldn't want to give you any unfair advantages against me."

"Don't worry, you have all the time you need to prepare. I will still have victory over you." He awkwardly paused for a moment, causing the room to go silent. "I should probably go soon... I don't want to be intruding and Wednesday night start calling for you soon. You two are glued together at the hip sometimes."

I put a hand on his arm as he stood to go leave. His eyes met mine in a warm embrace. "No... stay. I'd rather avoid my sister for a bit longer and stay with you. She's upset with me for following some of our mother's wishes."

He nodded and sat next to me in the chair beside the bed. We spoke for about an hour before we both had to leave. I did have to go back to my dorm with Enid and my twin and he had to return to his. We couldn't spend too much time together. I didn't know if I wanted to explore the growing bond between us.