Unlovable | Wednesday Addams

23

The bell chimed again and Evelyn heaved a sigh.

"Hey," a very familiar voice greeted. "I'll just have a coffee. Black, please."

Evelyn spun around quickly, her entire face lighting up as she flung herself around the counter to embrace her brother. "Ethan!"

Ethan chuckled as he picked up his sister and spun her around. "Hey, Evelyn."

"What're you doing here?" Evelyn asked. It wasn't exactly uncommon for Ethan to drop by randomly but this was a welcome surprise.

"Oh, you know how it is. Business but I figured I'd stay for Parents' Day as well." Ethan shrugged, pushing his hair out of his face. He'd grown it out in a sort of way that suited his sharp features. "Could I grab that coffee?"

"Yeah. Absolutely!" Evelyn beamed, slowly retreating back behind the counter as Ethan pulled out his wallet. "Ah, on the house."

Ethan grinned, placing it back into his pocket. "How sweet of you, my baby sister."

"Hey, that's not your call to make..." Tyler objected.

Ethan took a step toward the lanky teen, looking quite intimidating despite being a good half-foot shorter than him. "Listen, I haven't seen my sister in a year. Do you mind if we take a break? Have a coffee together, maybe?"

Tyler sized him up for a moment, debating whether it was worth it or not. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders in defeat, "Fine. Half an hour."

Ethan smiled pleasantly, showing off his dimple, "Thank you."

He ruffled her hair, as they sat across from each other in a booth. "Have you been staying out of trouble?"

Evelyn raised her eyebrows, "Have you been reading my texts?"

He sighed heavily as his coffee arrived at the table. "Yeah, I did. Have you been healing up alright? What the hell even happened out there?"

"Long story short, I have a little crush. Went after a monster 'cuz my emotions got to me and well...this is how it ended up," Evelyn muttered, chuckling slightly at her own stupidity.

Tyler walked over and put down a plate of chocolate bread for them, pausing for a moment before awkwardly away.

"Is this what I think it is?" Ethan asked, his eyes lighting up like a little child.

"Oui, bien sûr !" Evelyn grinned, knowing her brother's love for the baked good.

"C'est du pain au chocolat !" the two of them said in unison, wide grins on their faces. Ethan ripped the piece of bread, giving her the biggest piece as he usually did.

"Anyway, you said you have a crush?" he teased, nudging her under the table.

"Yes..." Evelyn sighed.

"Well, good. Lilian was...a character..." he said, somewhat hesitantly, licking his fingers despite Evelyn's disgusted face.

"If you didn't like her, you should've just told me! You know I trust your judgement," Evelyn whined, finishing off her own piece. Ethan nodded, smiling into his coffee as he took a sip.

"But you liked her. I couldn't get between that and you know it," he said, smiling fondly at her.

Evelyn looked away, smiling, too. "Thanks, Ethan."

"But honestly, going after the monster was really, really quite stupid."

Evelyn scowled, rolling her eyes, "thanks, genius. I never could have figured it out."

Ethan suddenly squinted his eyes, looking over Evelyn's shoulder that just walked in. "She...looks an awful lot like Goody Addams."

"Who's that?" Evelyn asked, looking behind her to see Wednesday. She saw the girl's eyes flick between the two of them sitting at the booth before she slowly walked up to the counter to speak to Xavier.

"You like her," Ethan muttered. "That's not good."

"Why's that?" Evelyn countered, intrigued.

Ethan eyed Wednesday warily, "Us Dolce's...we have a history with the Addams'."

"History?"

"Let's just say, stuff goes wrong when business happens between us," he said, his face stormy. "Meaning, I'm going to go. If you want to be with her, by all means but I'm just saying, it's a bad idea."

"Well, either way, I don't think she's into me anymore. By the way, take Arnold with you. He needs to stretch his legs anyway," Evelyn replied, handing Arnold to him.

"Of course. Stay safe, baby sister." They both got up and hugged each other for the second time in months. Evelyn hadn't realised she had really missed him.

"With my track record as of late, I can't guarantee it," Evelyn grinned into his jacket. She didn't want to let go.

"Say you will for my peace of mind."

"I will, Ethan," Evelyn said, finally pulling away. Ethan smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head before he left and so did Wednesday soon after without so much as a word from Evelyn.

Evelyn was back at the cash register, zoning out when all of a sudden, she was yanked into a vision alongside Wednesday and frankly, the feeling was sickening. There was enough noise and chaos to make her head hurt. She looked around, seeing burning torches and the abandoned building that always gave her the creeps. Her senses felt overwhelmed and smoke filled her nostrils. She felt terrified. A cold hand reached into hers, and Evelyn clung to it, knowing Wednesday was beside her. At that moment, Evelyn didn't care about the strange feeling she felt, Wednesday's visions were nothing like Lilian's. They both watched in silence as a girl lashed out at a figure dressed as a pilgrim, a figure that Evelyn recognised. Joseph Crackstone.

"Oh my gods," Evelyn murmured, clinging to Wednesday's hand. "This is the night he tried to wipe out all of the outcasts..."

"And that's Goody Addams." Wednesday held her tighter as they watched a girl fling herself into the tangle of people.

"Anastasia!" Goody screamed in horror as a flash of blue appeared in the tangle of people. That sent the crowd a few steps back. In the shadows of the firelight was one girl on the floor while another was standing protectively over her, gems spinning around them in a protective shield. Then, the shield crumpled as the figure was momentarily distracted and knocked silly. The crowd took the opportunity and grabbed both people by the arm, yanking them towards the barn before tossing them in.

"You are abominations of the Devil's grip!" he roared, "I will not stop until I have expunged this new world of every outcast."

"What are you doing?" Evelyn hissed as Wednesday dragged her into the barn to watch closer.

"It's okay," she whispered softly, tucking Evelyn behind a barrel first before going behind herself.

"Godless creatures," Crackstone said, disgust and contempt oozing out of his voice. Smoke began to choke Evelyn's lungs as the barn was lit on fire, causing her to cough as Wednesday dragged her out. As they stumbled through the smoke, it suddenly cleared into a dark foggy mist and when Evelyn turned to look for Wednesday, she wasn't there.

Anastasia came running out of the mist. She grabbed Evelyn's shoulders tightly, soft brown curls falling into her wide eyes. "He won't stop. He won't stop. He's coming back and when he does, you have to protect Addams. Only she has the power to stop this."

She thrust something into her hand before she was yanked out of the vision. Tyler was standing beside her, snapping his fingers in her face. "Didn't give you the cash register just so you can do nothing."

Evelyn scowled and looked at her watch, "it's time to go anyway."