You fell first, I fell harder //Wenclair one-shots//

Thalassophobia (Part 2/2)

Wednesday cut away the bandages, cringing at the skin below that had turned lightly red and raw. Enid sat in front of her holding something that was labelled with the words Liquid Bandage Active Skin Repair Skin Glue For Wounds Waterproof Skin, a thin watery substance you put over your cut so you could swim. Wednesday grit her teeth as her colourful roommate dips the little brush into the stuff and ran it over the half-closed cuts. Only her head was severely injured, the rest almost looked like a cat had been mad at her, but it still stung. Once Enid had finished she placed it back on the counter. 

"You ready to go?" Enid asked, eyes soft and kind. Disgusting.

"Don't treat me like a child, I'm ready to go."

Due to the fact Wednesday's swimsuit had been torn apart last night, she was stuck borrowing one of Enid's, deep purple one-piece with yellow flowers on it. It clashed horribly but that was precisely Enid's thing. 

The girls walked down to the school's pool and Wednesday hated the light insecurity as people looked at her cuts. She now understood why Enid liked to hide her scars. At the moment hate for herself dug into her gut, planting a seed there. She wasn't one to get insecure, and she wasn't one to fear, but as she heard the sound of the wave pool slapping against the tiles she froze, right in the middle of the damn path. She couldn't move. No. She wasn't going in the water. People were looking now, but maybe that was because her own lungs wouldn't work. Enid's hand was secured around her arm and she was pulled off the path into the changing rooms. 

Wednesday gripped the bench and tried to steady herself. She was not afraid. She was an Addams, they never feard. But... "I can't, I'm sorry."

Enid took her hand in her own, looking Wednesday straight in the eyes. "You can, we will start at the shallow end and work our way deeper. I won't let you drown Nes."

This same pattern happened seven times. Hallway, changeroom, hallway, changeroom, pool edge, change room. Finally, Wednesday sucked in a deep breath and stepped into the water. After the hour of morning swimmers, they were the only ones there. That also meant it may have taken much too long for Wednesday to put her toe in the water but the cleared air was nice. 

Wednesday walked down until the water was at her waist then looked around. The pool wasn't deep, you could see the bottom all around you and there were no animals except for little floaty ones. That was heavily reassuring. 

Enid dove into the water on the other end, swimming over and resurfacing, her hair wet and sticking to her face.  "Let's blow bubbles!" She put her lips to the water and blew a few while Wednesday gave her a look of disgust. 

"I am not a child."

"Come on, putting your head near the water will help," Enid blew a few more and giggled as Wednesday knelt down. 

With her head just at the water's edge, the goth pursed her lips and blew out. Bubbles formed around her face but her nose was just able to breathe above. Like a force made of pure evil, some water splashed up, blocking her nose for a second. Wednesday stood up, water splashing around her as she whipped off her face. Then she got on her knees again and repeated as she had done before. 

Eventually, Enid dove under again, claiming she was going to get a life jacket and would be back soon. Soon turned out to be a good ten minutes. The life jacket made Wednesday crave a bullet to the head, as it was brighter orange than a freaking carrot. She strapped everything up and wadded deeper. As promised, the life jacket held her up as she reached the four foot eight section, where her mouth would have gone under, she still stayed on her tiptoes, making sure her feet touched the ground. 

Enid was attempting to conceal her laughter, as Wednesday looked like a small child with her braids and the way her arms moved around in the deeper waters. This did not go past the other girl's attention but she came to a sudden halt as the floor dropped off to five feet and she could no longer touch it. She flailed her arms and kicked herself back. It worked, propelling her to where she could touch. 

Enid swam over to her and clicked her tongue, holding out her hands. "I'm taller, I can still touch, see? The life jacket will keep you up when I can't ."

Wednesday rolled her eyes and took Enid's hands, letting herself be pulled deeper and deeper until Enid couldn't touch either, and then she was let go.  She bobbed above the water for a bit before Enid came back with a pool noodle, instructing Wednesday to remove the life jacket and use this bright blue atrocity instead. Wednesday did as told, transferring over. The pool noodle held her up much less efficiently, but she could still float above the water. 

Finally, after three hours, Wednesday Addams could swim. Kind of. She still needed a bit of aid, but trading in water was enough to hold up. The two girls pushed themselves onto the side rail, letting their feet dry.

"This was super brave, so I think maybe I should be brave," Enid said, turning around to look at her.

"By being alone?"

"No...by telling you..."

Wednesday waited but she just trailed off. The girl's heart patterned as Enid blushed and rolled her eyes. "Never mind."

"No, I wish to know."

Enid looked at her then breaking eye contact she glanced down at her lips. Wednesday's whole body clenched. "What if you die tomorrow? And you will die sad because you never got to say it."

"Did you just attempt to quote The Fallout on me, Addams?"

"Maybe," Wednesday shrugged, not wishing to admit she had watched the movie.

"Can I finish re-creating the seen?"

Wednesday couldn't breathe, instead, she just nodded, letting Enid lean forward and press her lips to hers. Of all things she had expected to happen today, this was not it, but if anyone ever asked her the best swimming lesson of her life, this would definitely be the answer.

A/N if ya couldn't tell I had no clue how to add the wenclair so I just slammed it in there lol. Hope you enjoyed it! I don't have any phobias but I based the reaction on a panic attack. Well, I have a phobia of needles...maybe I will add that next chapter...hehe

Is this angst?