Wednesday never thought she could take interest in the light. Not even so far as to simply tolerate it. She despised it, detested it, abhorred it, and regarded it with the upmost contempt.

At least, back then she had.

"Wednesday, please read off the name you've selected."

A name.

The name that would later bring a sliver of sun into her dark and dreary life and partially chase away the shadows that had concealed her in solitude. Back then something like that seemed impossible, but the impossibility had been printed neatly on a folded slip of paper among twenty others like it. Out of all her classmates it had to have been that name. She could have dug deeper into the hat, the hat that had held her fate, but even then would anything have changed?

Possibly.

Probably not.

"Riley Owens," she'd said without emotion, not even taking the time to look for the owner of the name before moving to throw it in the trash. At the time it hadn't mattered, but now Wednesday sometimes found herself wishing she had kept the small slip of parchment, if only for sentimental reasons.

The classroom rippled with whispers and sighs of relief as it registered to not be their own name then quickly switched to gasps and groans as they gave sympathy to the unlucky individual. Without a word Wednesday glided ominously back to her desk and pulled out a worn paperback book. She had no interest in searching out her supposed 'partner' and so ignored the expectant looks being thrown her way. She considered the act as doing them a favor. As the other students took their turns drawing from the hat and giggles and chatter resumed the young Adams girl remained passive to the noise, flipping through the pages absently as she brushed up on her poisons. The gentle whoosh and familiar creasing of pages was enough to nearly drown out the rest of the world. However it was not enough to numb her to a sudden presence slide into the seat in front of her, and only after a minute of feeling eyes upon her did she glance upwards.

The vision of horror that sat before the young Adams teen had her eyebrow twitching.

Smiling nervously sat a girl in a white flowery blouse and peach skirt. Her rosy cheeks had subtle dimples and her braces glinted with pink bands. In the sun shining through the classroom windows her strawberry blonde hair gleamed healthily throughout luscious waves and the sweet scent of vanilla wafted from her entire being.

It made Wednesday want to bodily gag.

"Um, Wednesday Addams?" she implored with a hesitant smile. Her dimples deepened a bit and Wednesday almost cringed. After receiving no response the girl wilted a bit. "M-My name's Riley. I guess we'll be partners for this project."

"Unfortunately," she replied sardonically and offered nothing more. She didn't need to waste words on this…nightmare. As her glare increased its intensity Wednesday almost smirked as she watched the girl begin to shake with fear. It was obvious she didn't want to be near Wednesday any more than said girl wanted to be near her but she continued to persist.

"Wow, eleventh grade and we're still doing these kinds of projects," she began with a breathy giggle and scrunched nose. "It's kinda lame they still treat us like kids."

Wednesday narrowed her eyes as Riley gave another small laugh. She almost wished her ears would start bleeding so she could drown out the vile sound.

"Just stay out of my way," she ordered before standing and heading to the library.

Of course by that she meant just let her do all the work so any social interactions between them would be kept to near nothing. Riley had watched her go in shock, her blue eyes blinking as the teacher said nothing to stop her from leaving the classroom. Nobody ever stopped her from doing as she pleased.

Students feared her.

Teachers feared her.

And the sheep named Riley Owens needed to get back in the herd.

XxXxXxXxX

"Don't throw up," Wednesday demanded in annoyance as she regarded her companion's green tinted face.

"B-But...its insides..." Riley clamped her mouth shut as bile began to rise. She stared in silent horror as Wednesday plucked the gallbladder from the corpse and set it aside. "It stinks..."

"Would the smell of a cadaver be more appealing to you? I am sure I could convince the teacher to work on one for extra credit," she said with a smidge of amusement.

Riley's face nearly had Wednesday smiling but she turned away instead and continued her work.

"S-So, how about w-we hit the library after school? I b-bet we could find some books on anatomy."

With a sigh of annoyance Wednesday rolled her eyes. It was the fourth time the shivering mess of a girl had asked within the week. Why couldn't she just leave it be?

"No. I do the research at home."

Silence.

Finally.

"Th-then how about I go to your place?"

Pausing in her removal of the brain Wednesday gave herself a moment to absorb the question. This was new. No wait, this was impossible. Nobody had ever asked to go to her house, not even previous project partners, and with very good reason. It was quite a shock to hear the ever skittish Riley Owens present such a brave and stupid suggestion. In a flash, anger pooled hotly in her stomach as she watched the other girl wriggle and twitch with obvious fear. How dare a person such as her think she'd be allowed into her home? Growing livid Wednesday turned fully to the girl, intent on ripping her a new one, but the venomous words died instantly as she was assaulted by the biggest blue eyes ever turned her way. Something in them struck a chord within Wednesday, and at first she couldn't quite figure out why. And then she remembered Joel. Sweet, sickeningly innocent Joel. He'd been the only person she'd ever taken into her home, introduced to her family, and ultimately be her first young love. He had the same gaze Riley was giving her now, and she still didn't understand why it had her hesitating. Riley was just like him. Nice, normal…accepting.

So unlike herself.

"Okay," she said sending Riley nearly reeling in shock.

"Seriously?" she said sounding out of breath.

"I don't joke," Wednesday replied, tone hard and final.

Riley said nothing more, but the harshness in Wednesday's voice did not keep her from smiling. Said girl smiled as well, inwardly. After all, the first time Joel had visited nearly gave him a heart attack.

Riley's fear would surely serve as quality entertainment.

XxXxXxXxX

Wednesday shifted on her bed as she scribbled notes in preparation for her science paper. A quick glance to her right only annoyed her more as her supposed partner remained unconscious and useless. She had been hoping to scare Riley, not incapacitate her. Meeting her mother had been no problem, Riley simply having been in awe at Morticia's grace and beauty. Gomez wasn't really that bad either, but he did end up getting her flustered. His outright flourish and, to put it lightly, sexual pheromones turned Riley's face so red Grand-mama asked of blunt force trauma. Lurch and Uncle Fester finally seemed to pull the fear out of her though. Smirking Wednesday relished her trembles at Lurch's sheer height and Uncle Fester's madness. But it was Thing who finally took the cake, Riley screaming bloody murder as he perched on her shoulder in greeting which ultimately caused her to faint and end up in Wednesday's room.

On her bed.

Where she didn't belong.

A soft grumble alerted Wednesday to Riley's awakening. Setting aside her work she stared down the other girl with a look of undeniable annoyance. Said girl shifted onto her side and stretched, unintentionally showing off a bit of her creamy white stomach that Wednesday eyed passively (it wasn't nearly as white as her own skin), and soft green eyes seemed to smile as they fluttered open causing Wednesday to shiver in disgust. How could someone be so damn happy all the time? Then those same eyes focused and widened with fear as Riley's hand shot out to grasp Wednesday's in panic.

"It was a hand!" she gasped to her surprised partner. "Th-That's imp-possible! A hand c-can't move around on its own!"

Wednesday was about to rip her hand away in anger but paused as Riley's breathing started to shudder and spasm. She began to take short, quick gasps and hurriedly reached into her jeans pocket to grab what was soon revealed to be her inhaler. Taking a couple puffs from the plastic container Riley shuddered and swallowed dryly, grunting in pain at the scratchiness of her throat. Wednesday gazed on with interest rather than worry, watching as Riley's delicate shoulders rose and fell heavily with each grateful intake of oxygen. She wondered just how fragile this girl really was, having noticed before some deep bruising from her earlier fainting.

"That was Thing," she replied calmly though the feeling was not mutual within Riley.

"But-B-But it was a-"

"A hand, yes," she stated, her calm hardening a bit as she retrieved her notes once more.

Riley swallowed and took a minute to breathe. Wednesday watched in her peripheral as the drop of sunshine stared intensely at her floor and the young Adams member wondered if she was going into shock. If so she was not letting her use her blanket.

"A hand…" she mumbled to herself. "It was a…a hand a walking…hand…"

"Perseveration?" Wednesday growled as she continued to scribble.

Riley raised her arms and pulled her hair to one side before stroking it nervously.

"N-No, I…I'm just…never mind." She dropped her hair and Wednesday could practically feel her forcefully blocking out the phenomena. "Um, what are you doing?"

"Doing the project."

"Oh, do you need me to-"

"No," the darker girl deadpanned.

Riley drew into herself and began to play with the frilled ends of her pale yellow sundress. The action pestered Wednesday to no end and soon she found herself unable to ignore the girl anymore.

"Just leave, I am more than capable of finishing this without your inconvenience."

To Wednesday's ever rising surprise she felt Riley's hand gently close around her shoulder. Brown eyes met cobalt and she nearly hissed at the kindness shining within them. Mentally she made a note to burn the current dress and throw its ashes into the ocean. It was too bad too, it was one of her favorites.

"Making you do all the work isn't fair to you," she persisted. Without missing a beat Wednesday flashed her a toothy grimace.

"Your existence isn't fair to me."

To say Riley Owens took the harsh statement badly was an understatement. The delicate hand on Wednesday's shoulder retreated immediately and tears began to sting the frail girl's eyes. Clambering off the bed Riley rushed to the door in an attempt to save face even though her sobs rang clearly throughout the dreary room. Wednesday was just about to relax when the bright girl suddenly stopped in the doorway. The Adams member watched her shaking shoulders for a moment and was a little startled when Riley spoke. She expected biting words; maybe she'd actually broken the girl into growing a backbone. Wednesday smiled bitterly as she waited to hear what kind of insults the girl could come up with.

The payoff however caused it to drop.

"I'm sorry," she began without turning around. Her wracking sobs broke her sentences a bit but she was still able to get them out. "I…I'll t-try to *hic* get what I…what I can done at home. I'll see you at *sniff* at school."

Without another word the yellow clad girl left the room. Wednesday was not bothered by her tears but at the same time not satisfied with them.

And that was truly alarming

A/N: Say whaaaaaat?! I'm starting another story?! Why yes, yes I am. So, as you can see, this is a lady love'n story. I honestly cannot see Wednesday grown up and with Joel. Don't kill me shippers! So yeah, this was a pretty rough chapter. It was originally going to be a really long one-shot but then I started writiiiiing, and I started get more into feeliiiings rather than just awesome mindless seeeeeeex. So you can expect maybe five or six chapters before it's complete. I know this fandom is kind of small, but for those who read it I hope you really enjoy it.