Part 50 - Distraction

Y/n

"Wow...you look...like a mess."

Eugene let out a deep breath as he stood in the doorway, and his lips pressed into a thin line, obviously trying really hard not to laugh at the current state I was in, and I glared at him. Although honestly if I were him I'd probably be laughing at me too. I knew I looked a trainwreck, I have a fucking mirror.

And when I looked into it the moment that I woke up this morning, it showed me that I had in fact missed some of my mascara, because I woke up with dark smudges around my eyes. But it's not my fault that I couldn't see what I was doing in the dark last night.

But I was glad that he could still be a dick to me even when I'm like this, it helped me feel normal about this whole mess, like there were things that were still the same, and it brought comfort to me in a weird sense.

I roll my eyes dramatically at his subtle dig, which I knew he wasn't being sincere about, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to act offended.

"Oh would you look at that, I've been brutally wounded, I don't think I'm going to make it lieutenant...tell my wife I love her..."

I claw at my shirt over my chest, making a fake gasping noise as I started to turn away from the boy standing in the threshold of my dorm room, but he grabbed onto my shoulders before I could make it very far, and he grinned as he turned me back to face him.

"Hang in there soldier, you're gonna be just fine, and you can tell your wife that yourself."

He sighed, and his hands fell away from my shoulders once he had my attention again, and he inspected the smudges on my face before grabbing the sleeve of his shirt and using it to wipe the dark patches away carefully, and he managed not to poke my eyes out while doing so, I was impressed.

And also a little confused why he was being so gentle with me right now, but I was too tired to really care. All I knew is that I was grateful he was here so I didn't have to spend anymore time with my own thoughts.

"There, that's better, now you actually look somewhat alive. How are you feeling?"

I didn't really know how to answer that. I wasn't too keen on the idea of telling Eugene that I had spent most of my night crying into a pillow that wasn't even mine, tossing and turning because I kept having nightmares about all of the horrible things that Pugsley could be going through right now without me knowing.

I think he may have figured out the crying part as soon as he saw my face though, because I knew that my eyes still looked just that tiny bit puffy, and I mean it's not like his dorm is that far from mine, so if the way I looked right now wasn't enough to tell him, I'm pretty sure the fact that I was the only person making any sound in the dead silence of the hall last night was a pretty good sign.

I sigh.

"I'm...alright I guess, I didn't really get much sleep. Why are you being so nice to me?"

Eugene took a step towards me before I felt him pull me into a sort of half hug, and his chin rested on top of my head as he spoke quietly.

"Because believe it or not, I care about you."

Alright well now I'm gonna fucking cry again you douche.

Not really, but his words struck a chord in me that hadn't felt genuine love from this dude in a while, and it felt really nice. 

I lifted my arms up to return the hug, and he gave me a singular pat to the back.

"So, here's what's gonna happen. I'm going to get you some breakfast so you have more energy, and you're gonna get dressed into some different clothes. And then once you've eaten something, you're gonna keep me company today while I do all of the stuff I've been avoiding, okay?"

Not what I was expecting him to say, but that didn't actually sound the worst idea right now, I could use some time with him if I'm being honest. I've only gotten to hang out with him a few times since we've been back at school, and I sort of missed it. Plus I think he's gotten a lot nicer since the start of the year, so the urge to hit him over the head with a frying pan has gotten less and less over time.

And I knew I couldn't exactly do much to help look for Pugsley right now without messing something up in the search, I don't think I could do it on my own, as much as I wanted to. And the sheriff probably wouldn't be too keen in the idea of letting a student help out the party that was looking for him.

I nod, and he lets me step back from the embrace before my head dips down to look over my disheveled state, and I realize that I'm still wearing the clothes that he lent to me last night.

"Oh, right- I'll wash these and give them back to you later sorry-"

He waves a dismissive hand at me as he reaches into his pocket.

"Nah don't worry about it, keep them I don't wear them anymore, so they're yours. I do have something for you though."

That sentence made me a little scared, but as long as it isn't a centipede I think I'll be fine.

Luckily though, the only thing that came out of his pocket was a tiny caramel colored candy thing that he held out in his palm for me to take, and I took it between my fingers to look at it.

"What...is it?"

"Candied honey."

He smiled,

"You know that it's a cure-all, so eat it, it'll help you feel better."

Well it's not like I'm sick or anything, but I guess it couldn't hurt.

I open up the tiny plastic wrapper and pop the candy into my mouth before I nod.

"Thanks. I'll uhm, I'll get dressed and meet you downstairs?"

With that, he gives me a thumbs up and takes a few paces back before disappearing down the staircase to the ground floor, and I walk back into my room, closing the door behind me and walking over to stand in front of the mirror stuck on the door of my closet.

Yikes, he wasn't wrong.

It's okay, I can still salvage this, I just need to pick out a nice outfit and properly wash my face instead of doing a half ass job like I apparently did before, then it should be fine. I don't exactly want to walk around school looking like this...

I glance over to my bed, which was still perfectly made from yesterday when I'd tidied up in here before Enid came over, and my dress was still laying across the covers, probably collecting dust overnight in the open air.

It really is beautiful, it's a shame that I only got one opportunity to wear it though. Maybe I'll have to have an impromptu fashion show back home when I return to live with my mom over Christmas break this year, then at least it won't sit in my closet forever.

But for now, that's exactly what it will do, just until I have to pack up my stuff and travel home.

And so, I move over to my bed to pick the dress up off of where it sat atop my sheets, and I open up my closet to grab one of the empty hangers hidden off to the side of the rack beside my collection of clothes, and I tuck either end under the straps of the gown before I shimmy it in to the only remaining space left in this fucking thing, barely being able to keep it from popping back out again.

I really need to donate some of this stuff...there are shirts in here that I'm pretty sure I haven't worn since I was 10, but I just kept them in case. I think I may be starting to hoard a little bit though.

But that's a task for another day.

While I was standing here anyway, I looked through my possible outfit options for today, and eventually settled on the joke gift of a shirt that Eugene had gotten me for my birthday last year, thinking it would help me get over my fear of spiders, but honestly it helped more with my fear of people judging me in the end, because it was just too fun not to wear out in public that very same day.

I paired it with my favorite cargo pants and a zip up hoodie, because the weather recently has been colder than a witch's tit, and I was not in the mood to get hypothermia just from walking outside.

Once I had taken off the clothes that I slept in last night and tossed them into my laundry basket over in the corner next to my closet, I pull on the outfit that I had picked out for myself before closing my closet door to look at the combination that I had made up, and it actually wasn't too bad.

I zip up the hoodie half way, quickly walking over to my bed to grab my shoes from underneath and I get them tied on my feet in a short amount of time, making that the last thing I needed to do before I left to go find Eugene downstairs.

But I grab my keys from my desk first and shove them in my pocket so I don't end up getting locked out again.

After I look over the room one last time, letting myself stare at Pugsley's side of the room a little longer than usual, I sigh.

"Please be okay..."

««« ♪ ♪ »»»

"Thanks for the food, man. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday, I was starving."

I took the last bite of the breakfast that Eugene had apparently stolen from the kitchen while I was getting ready, and had somehow not gotten caught, although I think that the cooks had been sent home already so there wasn't much chance of it being occupied anyway. It did kind of make me wonder how old this food was, but it tasted fine and it wasn't making me feel sick, so let's just hope I don't get food poisoning.

We turned around the corner, now on our way back up to Eugene's dorm so he could grab a few things before we headed off to the Hummer shed so he could count his honey stock for this season and start on hibernating them early since we would have to be leaving school sooner this year than normal, which of course I would be accompanying him with for today, and maybe he'll even let me help out. 

But up until this point while we were wandering through the corridors, we had just been...

Talking.

About the most random things, and whenever there started to be even just a tiny bit of silence, Eugene would start on another topic to engage my focus, and I could see exactly what he was attempting to do with the endless conversation, he wasn't really being that sneaky about it.

He was trying to distract me from thinking about Pugsley.

And while it was kind of working to some degree, I couldn't really stop my brain from occasionally drifting off a little bit and thinking maybe I should be doing something else right now, but the constant talking from Eugene kept pulling me back up, and for that I was grateful.

He's a pretty great friend.

He was walking just a tad bit in front of me, so he had to turn his head over his shoulder to talk.

"Yeah I could tell, you looked like a zombie when you opened the door."

I didn't quip back at his joke with my own witty remark like I usually would have done, and instead I just glared at the back of his head with one of those 'really?' looks, making his head swivel just that little bit more to look over his shoulder at me, and he bit back a grin at my expression.

"Too soon? Yeah you're probably right, my bad."

I roll my eyes at him as we continue walking, but as his sentences carried on, the gap between our strides started to get bigger when mine came to a slow stop right as we passed by the bottom of one of the staircases, and my focus got locked onto the two people standing there at the top.

I actually kind of expected both of them to have already headed home, but I guess I was wrong.

The pair standing by one of the windows in the staircase, was made up of Ajax and Enid, who appeared to be having a conversation that left them both with quite the happy expressions.

Well I'll be damned, I guess they really did talk it out after all.

The handshake that they were sharing right now looked a little bit awkward though if I'm being honest, but I'm glad that they seemed to have worked things out. I think it'll be good for both of them to be friends again.

Ajax and Enid may have had some ups and downs in their relationship, but they were back to being in a good place now, at least that's what the smiles on their faces were telling me.

My presence didn't go unknown for very long though, because Ajax's eyes wandered away from the girl in front of him, and instead found their way over to my own gaze, which had probably been staring at the two of them for longer than necessary. But when we did lock eyes, his sweet smile morphed into one of more understanding, and his eyes softened, as if they were trying to ask 'are we okay?'.

And to that, I simply nodded softly and reciprocated his look.

I never wanted there to be any bad blood or weirdness between us after what happened, so I was happy that he didn't feel any resentment towards me. We can still be friends, that's all I really wanted from this, and by the looks of it, that's what he wanted too.

"Hey come on we gotta get a move on."

The familiar sound of Eugene's voice snapped my attention back to him, and he stood a few feet in front of me with one of his hands extended out to me, gesturing to follow him.

And so I glanced back at Ajax and Enid, who were now both looking at me kindly, and I sent them a small wave which they returned shortly before I moved up ahead to join the boy who was waiting for me to keep walking, and he swung an arm over my shoulders once I had taken my spot next to him.

His other hand came up to poke my cheek, but not too hard, and the small action made me smile.

"You good?"

I nod.

"Yeah, I'm good."

Eugene pulled me along, moving further down the hallway as our steps momentarily synchronized, only to be broken apart again when his pace quickened, and what started as a slow walk side by side, turned into me watching as he practically began to sprint ahead of me as we reached the staircase that led up to our hall, and he called out back to me as he climbed the steps two or three at a time.

"Last one up there owes five bucks!"

Wha- 

"That's unfair you got a head start!"

I chased after him, being careful as I raced up the stairs so that I didn't trip, and we passed by a couple of students who gave us both odd looks as we left them standing there, confused as to why we were in such a rush. The truth is I don't wanna lose any money to this dude, but if the lead he had on me was any sign of if I was going to win or not, then I better get my wallet out.

It didn't take long to reach the floor where our dorms where located, and by the time I walked into Eugene's room, he was already standing over by his bed with a smug grin on his face, and apparently he had even had time to grab a couple of things from his desk that he needed for his errands.

"Yeah yeah whatever I'll pay you later."

I walk over to the table that sat in the middle of the room, still a little puffed from running up all those stairs, and my arms rest down onto the top of it as Eugene picked up a small plastic enclosure and placed it down not far from me.

Wait, were those the corpse moths? They look kind of...not alive anymore.

"Hey uhm...are they-"

"Dead? Yeah. They're life span is a lot shorter than you'd think."

Eugene walked over to where I was standing, and looked down at the insects inside the case, pushing his glasses back up his nose with a shrug.

"And I was kidding about the money, I just wanted to be an ass."

One of my hands came up to hit him in the arm and he winced slightly.

"Ow-"

I could tell he was about to go off on a rant about the difference between friendly teasing and full on violence, and I was really not in the mood to hear it again for the millionth time. Thankfully enough though, there was somebody who just walked in the door that drew both of our attention away from me hitting him.

I wonder what business she had here...

Wednesday marched into the room, and had her gaze set right on Eugene. I'm not even sure if she acknowledged my presence at all as she spoke in her monotone voice that I knew all too well.

"You. We're waking the dead again. How long until your corpse moths are airborne?"

I'm sorry she's doing what now. At no point did I think that necromancy would be apart of her plan to get Pugsley back, but I suppose by now I should know to expect the unexpected when it comes to Wednesday Addams.

Eugene leaned down next to where the moths lay inside their enclosure, and he sighed.

"Unfortunately, they're permanently grounded. Corpse moths only have a 36 hour life cycle."

Wednesday's expression seemed to actually convey what she was feeling for once, and I could see the slight bit of disappointment at the new piece of information that she may not have accounted for.

Her eyes lifted up from the table, and instead glanced over to the chest that was sat in the corner of the room, the same one that Eugene had taken off of Pugsley and I's hands after the dorm inspection when we almost got caught, seeing as we all thought it would be less likely that teachers would spot it and get us in trouble if it was stored in here.

Eugene's gaze followed hers over to where she was looking, and a hint of guilt creeped onto his face when he turned back to face her. It may not have been as obvious with him as it was with me, but I could tell that he felt bad about what's happening with Pugsley. I think this whole 'spending time with each other' today wasn't just for my benefit, but for his too, he probably didn't want to be left alone with his guilt either.

"Wednesday, I'm really sorry. Pugsley wanted to be my friend, and I blew him off. Maybe if I had been nicer he wouldn't have felt the need to...become bff's with a zombie."

I knew it, he does feel guilty. But he couldn't have known this would happen, it's not his fault for making a decision without really thinking about it, which yes might have been a little bit selfish of him, but there was no reason that he should feel bad about it. Now I feel sort of guilty about yelling at him back then for not becoming friends with Pugsley immediately, if I had known he felt this way about it... 

I mean besides, him not accepting Pugsley wasn't the only factor that lead to him digging up Slurp that night, I think he was just genuinely curious and ended up making a bad choice, and that's not anybody's fault.

Also I think Eugene was still the tiniest bit scared of Wednesday, so he probably didn't want to be on her bad side right now, hence the apology.

But instead of accepting it like I assumed she would, she glanced up at Eugene and I.

Oh great so she does know that I exist.

"I am my brothers keeper. I simply should have caged him for his own protection."

Is this that weird torture thing that Pugsley told me about? The fact that Wednesday seemed so calm while saying that she should have locked him up was a little unnerving, but I suppose it's nothing unusual from her.

Eugene looked between me and the black haired girl.

 "We're headed to the Hummer shed, have to hibernate my bees early,"

He reached behind him to grab his bee suit, which I figured was the last thing that he needed to pull together before we could get moving, but before he could finish asking the question, Wednesday was already on her way back out the door, and when Eugene turned back around, his last couple of words sort of came out a little quieter when he saw that she disappeared.

"Wanna..come-"

I gave him an awkward smile, and he shrugged as he moved to pick up all of the stuff he had gathered together, which seemed to be a little more than he could carry himself, so I moved over to him and took a couple of items from his grasp so nothing dropped.

"Hey uh...you shouldn't beat yourself up over this whole Pugsley thing you know. It wasn't your fault, nor was it anyone's fault."

He let out a deep exhale and turned to me.

"I know...I just, I feel bad that I was so quick to turn him down when he tried to be friends with me that night at the pyre. I just wanted to seem cool in front of the guys...and going off to find a zombie just didn't seem all that fun. Plus I heard all that stuff he said to you last night about always being pushed aside, and I just feel terrible that I did the same."

Right...that.

I haven't forgotten a single word that Pugsley told me last night when he said how he felt about me, but I can say that I've kind of been trying to push it to the back of my mind, because every time that I think about it, I feel like crying all over again.

I shake my head.

"I get it. And you shouldn't have to feel guilty about that, I know you just wanted to keep the friends that you had made this year, even though in the end they turned out to be kind of...meh. But, you shouldn't have to try and be somebody you're not just so they'll think you're cool. Because you're already one of the coolest people I know, without the tough guy act. You can't change what you did in the past, so we just gotta focus on what we can do today, yeah? I mean, you and Pugsley are friends now, aren't you?"

Eugene pondered for a moment, before his head nodded slowly.

"Yeah...yeah, we are."

I took one more thing off of the small pile in his arms, and I smile.

"Good. Because when he's found, and he will be found, you can tell him that. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to hear it."

I give his shoulder a quick pat, and my feet start to move towards the door.

"Come on, we should get going."

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Y/n's shirt btw: https://pin.it/6P5DPZ8hI