𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ℂ𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 ➶

𝕊𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟: ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

Valentina told no one what happened that night. Not even CC. Her roommate was asleep when she came in bruised and bloodied.

She was glad her mother insisted she bring a full-stocked first aid kit with her to boarding school, because she had to use butterfly sutures to close a couple of her cuts. Thankfully, the Nevermore uniform covered a lot of skin.

Why didn't she report what happened to the Principal? Because she was scared, of course! If they looked into the attack, they would no doubt discover the reason behind it. No matter how unfair it would be, she'd be in as much trouble as Gomez.

The next morning, CC tried to get her to spill the details of what happened on her date with Deuce, but she purposefully played coy. "A lady doesn't kiss and tell," was the most she would say.

No one knew what really happened that night... Except for Valentina and Gomez. But two could only keep a secret if one of them was dead. Who would he tell?

She eyed each and every one of her peers with suspicion. Did he know? Did she know? God, getting expelled might be worth it, just so she wouldn't have to live her life in total paranoia.

That day was one of the worst of her life. If she only knew what was in store for her that night...

She knew it would be a wringer when she returned to her dorm room to find Morticia Frump, the girl she'd been working so hard to avoid, sitting on her bed, eyeing the collage of photos and pictures on the adjacent wall.

She had her back turned, so Valentina just quietly closed the door again. But, when she started walking away, who else appeared at the other end of the hallway but Gomez Addams? He was just standing there, creepily, like those girls from The Shining.

Their eyes met. He grinned and started walking towards her.

Once again, he had her trapped, the only exit behind him

She was between a rock and a hard place. She decided to go with Morticia. She hadn't tried to kill her --yet-- so she was clearly the lesser of two evils.

"Hello, mon chou," Morticia said as Valentina reentered the room, rushing to close and lock the door behind her.

Was that French? Valentina didn't know any French, didn't take it in middle school. She took Latin instead. Most of her normie classmates teased her, saying it was a dead language, but she needed it for almost all of her love spells.

Nevermind that. She pressed her back to the door like she was afraid it would be knocked down. "How did you get in here? Did CC let you in?"

She gave her a benediction of a smile and shook her head. "No, the locks here are just easy to pick." There was a knock on the door, causing it to tickle Valentina's spine. She shivered. "Let Gomez in. He should be a part of this conversation."

"I'd rather not. I don't like my odds." She was already at a disadvantage against just Morticia. She didn't want to be double-teamed. That line of thinking sent all the blood to her face. She could practically hear her mother's shrill voice in her ear, saying "Valentina, get your mind out of the gutter!"

Her smile never faded. "I don't know whether to be pleased or insulted that you don't consider me a threat."

That really made her start to sweat. "Are you a threat?" 'Cause it sure sounded threatening.

"Not to you. I love you." She said it so simply, like it was a given fact. The sky is blue, water is wet, and Morticia Frump loved her, of all people. "And so does Gomez. Which is why he isn't one either. Not anymore, at least. Please, let him in?"

Valentina had to give it to her. For such a dark, intimidating figure she could sound very sweet and adorable when she wanted to.

With great reluctance and more than a touch of fear, she turned around and opened the door.

Gomez's face lit up when he saw her, but warning bells were already going off in her head, her brain's way of letting her know that she was too close to a predator.

He took a teeny step closer, until there was hardly a hair's width between them, until she could smell his breath, feel it wash over her face. He leaned in as if to kiss her...

She lurched backwards.

"Lay so much as a finger on me, Addams, and I'll scream!" She threatened, wagging a finger at him like he was a disobedient school boy. "I've got a great set of lungs."

If anything, his smile grew bigger. Mischief sparkled in his eyes. "Of course, cariño." Was that Spanish or Italian? One of the romance languages... She guessed it didn't matter.

As she closed and locked the door again, he strode over to his girlfriend, sat down so close to her that their thighs were pressed together. They just gazed into each other's eyes for the longest time, before Morticia raised a hand to stroke his cheek and he leaned in for a passionate kiss.

Morticia Frump and Gomez Addams were making out in her bed. Great. Swell. Just dandy.

But this was actually a good sign. Her meddling had not, in fact, ruined their relationship. That meant her arrows did not erase desire for another person but inspire new desire for somebody else.

Valentina walked to the far side of the room and perched herself on the edge of CC's bed. "I want to just start off by saying I am so sorry," she blurted out, interrupting once it became apparent that --if she didn't-- they would be here for a while.

It had the desired effect. Morticia and Gomez broke apart, both looking at her with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Why?" Morticia asked, raising one perfectly-sculpted brow at her. "Because you enslaved us, placed us under some strange sexual spell? That's not anything to apologize for. In fact, it's admirable, especially for someone of your age."

"It was never my intention..." Valentina said before Morticia's words caught up with her. "Wait... Aren't you mad at me?"

"Well, yes, I'm a little cross, simply because you're not taking responsibility for your actions." What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"What do you want me to do? Confess to the Principal? That would expose my family's secret and possibly get me expelled!" She huffed, anxiously running her fingers through her hair.

"No. The Principal has nothing to do with this. You should have confessed to me after what you did."

"I thought I could hide it. I thought it would go away."

"That's exactly what I thought as well. Except I couldn't and it wouldn't."

Valentina couldn't even begin to imagine the angst Morticia must have gone through, being filled with this new desire but unable to express it for fear of ruining her current relationship.

"I'm sorry," she sighed.

"I don't want an apology. What are you going to do about it?"

She was at a loss. "What do you want me to do?"

"I can think of a few things..." Gomez interjected with a lecherous smile. Morticia chuckled. Valentina wished she wouldn't encourage him.

"From now on, the three of us are a couple," Morticia declared. "Or, rather, a throuple. By the end of today, it will be official. I think the next place to go would be moving in together. Larissa will request to change rooms with you by the end of the week."

Valentina didn't like the sound of that. No, she didn't like the sound of that at all. "I like having CC as a roommate, though," she whined.

Gomez's gaze darkened. "You have a nickname for her. Cute." His tone was unreadable, but he was still smiling... So that had to be a good thing.

She ignored him, kept talking to Morticia. "Won't Larissa be upset?"

Morticia's little grin didn't dim by a single watt. "Oh, Larissa won't be happy with any of this. But such is life."