A handsome, Castilian young man with sleek, pomaded dark hair with a matching pencil mustache, reached out for a noose hanging in the vast receiving room, and pulled it down. A very loud sound shook the house but the young man did not bat an eyelid. Instead, he took out an unlit cigar from his breast pocket and put it in his mouth. Surprisingly, as he sucked in on it, the cigar lit up. As he puffed out a cloud of smoke, an eight-foot tall, monstrous creature, quite Frankenstein-like, walked towards him.

"You rang?" the monster growled. Despite his unusual features, the playful glint in his eyes showed his real, harmless nature.

"Yes, Lurch," the young man replied. "I would like to borrow the car keys from you. I am going to the hospital."

"Here, Mr. Addams," the creature called Lurch growled as he reached deep in his trouser pocket for the car keys. He handed them to the young man. Then he took the feather duster tucked under his other arm.

"Thank you, Lurch," he replied taking the keys and divesting them in his pants pocket. "I better get going. Good bye, Lurch."

Lurch raised a hand and waived at the young man's retreating figure. There was a loud slam from the front door, followed by a harsh humming of a car engine, then a series of squealing tires, and the young man was gone.

"Lurch, where is Gomez off to?" an old woman with frizzy, flyaway, gray hair asked. She wrapped her sequined shawl over her shoulders and walked towards Lurch.

"Mr. Addams went to the hospital," he growled.

The old woman sighed. "He went to see the Amore twins."

Lurch shook his head dejectedly and growled incoherently.

"He's been going there for almost a year but he still hasn't got a clue as to where Fester might be," the old woman said. She turned to Lurch. "Well, you may go now, Lurch. I'm sure you have other things to do. I'll deal with Gomez when he comes back."

"Thank you, Mrs. Addams," Lurch politely growled before shuffling away.

Mrs. Addams walked towards the box next to the telephone. She sat down on the chair in front of it before knocking on the box. With a creak, the box opened, revealing a decapitated hand.

"Hello, Thing," Mrs. Addams said. The hand waved in greeting. "I would just like to talk about Gomez. He is on his way to the Amore twins today."

Thing mimed talking, as if to say that Gomez probably only wants to talk to the Amore twins, and there is nothing wrong with that.

"But he has been seeing them for almost a year and he still doesn't have a clue as to where Fester might be," Mrs. Addams countered.

Thing sank in its box and tapped a series of Morse code, which Mrs. Addams intently listened to. When it finished, Thing showed itself to Mrs. Addams and waited for an answer.

"I know he feels terribly guilty about Fester's disappearance," she said. She stood up and started pacing to and fro. "It's just that I am worried about Gomez. Since he discovered where Flora and Fauna are confined, he seemed to have become obsessed with them."

Thing sank again in its box and tapped another series of Morse code.

"I also want to find Fester," Mrs. Addams said. "But I am afraid of the Amore twins' reaction when they finally come to their senses and see Gomez. I ask you, Thing, can you forgive Gomez if you are one of the Amore twins?"

The hand gestured as if to shrug. Then it pointed to Mrs. Addams, who already stopped pacing, as if to ask her in return.

"No," Mrs. Addams quietly said. "Gomez is my son and I love him. But what he did to those poor girls was… unforgivable. And I cannot blame Fester for leaving. I just think this has gone too far, for the both of them."

For the third time, Thing sank in its box and tapped another message.

"Oh, I hope so, too, Thing," Mrs. Addams agreed. "And hopefully the séance tonight will bring back Fester. Thank you, Thing."

The hand put its forefinger and thumb together, creating a circle as if to say, 'you're welcome', before closing its box and sinking to its depths.

"My sons," Mrs. Addams murmured sadly before leaving.

As the young man drove, he could not stop himself from thinking about what happened seven years ago that drove his brother away.

*flashback*

"Good news!" the young man, in his mid-adolescent age, triumphantly said as he enter a cavernous and quite museum-like receiving room, not unlike the room he was at moments ago. His arrival interrupted the conversation of a young, round, bald man and a younger Mrs. Addams. The two turned to face the young man.

"What is it Gomez, dear?" Mrs. Addams kindly asked.

"I now have a girlfriend," the young man, whose name was Gomez, smugly said. "Well, two girlfriends, actually."

"Two? Isn't that quite inappropriate, darling?" she politely asked, not intending to hurt her son's feelings.

"I hardly think so, Mama," he replied, his tone showing his slight confusion. "Besides, I cannot have either of them alone. Might as well have them both."

"You talk about women as if they are just some carcass to play with, Gomez," the bald, young man reprimanded.

"Well, a man has to have something to play with, shouldn't he Fester, brother?" Gomez asked his older brother, still retaining the air of smugness in his voice.

"Just like men, women have feelings as well, Gomez. And you should not play with them," Fester, the bald, older brother, replied. He eyed his brother with a mixture of sadness and distaste. Then he added in an undertone, "You should know that."

Gomez scoffed at his brother and made a face at him.

"I do not need a lecture, Fester," he said. "Besides, don't you want to know who I am in a relationship with?"

Fester balled his fists angrily, but Mrs. Addams put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Who are they, darling?" she asked.

"Flora and Fauna Amore!" Gomez proudly announced.

"The Amore twins?" Fester incredulously asked. His knees buckled, forcing him to sink on the floor of the receiving room. Mrs. Addams tried to carry him onto a chair but he was deadweight in despair of his brother's news.

"The very same," Gomez answered, ignoring Fester's disposition. "Thought you can have all the women, eh, brother?"

"Of all… why… Amore twins?" Fester asked, almost incoherently. His already pale skin turned gray as he tried to regulate his ragged breathing.

"I guess they like me better than they like you, Fester," Gomez said with a casual shrug. He turned around and opened his arms in a welcoming gesture. "And here they come! Welcome to our home, Flora and Fauna!"

Two girls, or so it seemed, entered the room. Both were quite beautiful, but with signs of insanity looming in their eyes. At first glance, they looked as if they are very closed with each other, but upon further scrutiny, they are actually conjoint from neck down. They have one set of arm and legs, and they share a torso. None of these physical characteristics fazed the Addamses.

"Gomez!" the girl on the left side squealed delightfully.

"My love!" the girl on the right purred.

They reached out a hand and grabbed Gomez by the shoulder before pulling him closer. They both showered him with kisses.

"I've missed you, my sweet Flora," Gomez told the girl on the left as he kissed her hand. Then he turned to the other one and kissed her hand, as well. "You as well, my darling Fauna."

*end of flashback*

Going back to that memory, Gomez admitted to himself that he knew from the beginning that Fester adored the Amore twins. He knew that the mere fact of him having Flora and Fauna is enough to drive Fester crazy. And he also knew that once his brother learns his real intention towards the twins, it would bring him to his wit's end. And it did.

*flashback*

"Thing?" Gomez called in a hush voice.

It was in the middle of the night and he just arrived home. No one in the mansion noticed his late arrival, thanks to Gate who dutifully and quietly opened itself to admit the Addams' old car driven by Gomez. Lurch did not greet Gomez on the front door, which spared him the butler's grunts and groans of a lecture. The only member of the household he was certain of not lecturing him for his late arrival was his friend, also a decapitated hand, Thing.

That was why when Gomez reached his room, he was calling for the hand.

Though it has already been sleeping for several hours, Thing woke up and opened his box near Gomez's room's windowsill. It waved sleepily at Gomez.

"Ah, there you are, Thing," he said as he absentmindedly threw his gray pinstripe jacket on the floor of his room, followed by his same colored necktie. Gomez sat on the windowsill, right next to Thing's box. "Do you mind if I talk to you right now?"

Thing shook itself to tell Gomez that it did not mind a midnight chat.

"Good," he replied. He kicked off his shoes and raised his feet on the windowsill. "The Amore twins and I have been in a relationship for three months now and they still haven't realized a thing!"

In its confusion, Thing sank in its box and tapped a message in Morse code.

"Oh, you know what I mean," Gomez replied, giving a heartfelt, slightly cruel laugh. "They truly believe that I love them. As if I would!"

He burst out laughing uncontrollably.

"I mean, for three months we've been playing the same ridiculous boring game of Flora-Fauna. They would say a name, may it be a scientific name, common name, its translation to different languages, whatever, and I would guess if that was a flora or a fauna.

"Today, their taste for a game got even weirder. We played hide-and-seek for almost two hours, with me being the it, because obviously none of them can hide while the other one seeks. So they decided that they will both hide. They even got the idea of hiding wrong! The twins thought that if their face is hidden, I cannot find them. They actually believed that I was so attached to them that by intuition, I can easily find them. They are probably the most stupid people I will ever meet."

Thing tapped another message.

"Haven't I told you why I am dating, in a relationship, whatever, with them?" Gomez asked. Thing shoot itself to say 'no'. "I'm just making fun of them and Fester! And the Amore twins are so gullible to believe me. And Fester, well… he thinks he's so dashing, that women swoon over him, that he can anyone of them. Well, I proved him wrong. The women he truly adore – Flora and Fauna, that is – are all over me that they cannot even remember his name!

"He ought to know that he is not the greatest. I am," he finished. Gomez's eyes were pitiless and content, like he believed that what he was doing was right. He smiled. "Thing, did you see how devastated Fester was when he saw the Amore twins smoldering me with kisses? Ha! He almost melted on the carpet!"

Thing tapped one word: wrong.

"Oh, Thing, do not be such a spoil sport!" Gomez said, looking a bit irritated with his friend. "I am just having fun! When Fester learns about this, he will just laugh with me and say I was so clever of thinking up this big joke."

"No, I won't," a cold, angry voice said.

Gomez turned his head towards the speaker and saw Fester standing by Gomez's door, looking livid. Thing jumped inside its box and closed its lid with a nervous snap.

"Forgot our manners, haven't we, Fester?" Gomez casually asked. He did not seem to mind his brother overhearing his conversation with Thing.

"The door was open," Fester answered coldly. His eyes were hooded, masking the anger he was feeling. He balled his fists to prevent himself from touching anything in his brother's room and tearing it apart.

"Have a seat," Gomez invited with a malicious smile. "Feel comfortable, brother."

"I'd rather not," Fester declined.

Gomez stared at Fester upon hearing his anguished tone. He frowned to show his confusion about his brother's reaction.

"Are you mad?" he asked incredulously.

"Take back what you said about the Amore twins," Fester growled, ignoring his brother's question.

"Which one?"

"Everything,"

"Why should I? They're all true."

"Why are you doing this, Gomez?"

"I am just having fun, Fester."

"Toying with women's emotions is not a form of entertainment."

"Why do you care, Fester?"

"It's none of your business."

"Neither is it yours. I will do what I want to do. I am not even bothering you, you are just jealous,"

"Me? On the contrary, I believe it is you."

Gomez let out a hallow laugh that did not reach his eyes. In fact, his eyes showed signs of guilt, which was fortunately for him, was unnoticed by Fester.

"Why should I be jealous of you?" he asked.

"If you are not, then explain to me why of all girls, you chose the Amore twins."

"Your ego is inexplicable, Fester," Gomez huffed. "You actually believe that I chose to be in a relationship with the Amore twins because you think I am jealous of you? Please, Fester, do not make me laugh."

"I heard every word you said to Thing, Gomez," Fester almost screamed.

"Then you do not need me to explain my actions," Gomez replied. He took a cigar from his bedside table, which lit up the moment he put it in his mouth. He huffed on the cigar and blew a cloud of smoke to Fester's face.

"We are not getting anywhere in this talk, Gomez," Fester said as he waved the smoke away. "I do not understand how and why you believe that I think that I am dashing. The mere fact that you think that way proves that you are envious of me. But I'd say that you have nothing to be jealous of me. I am not stealing women's attention from you.

"In fact, the only attention that I want is the one you took away from me – the one from the Amore twins. And you decided to toy with them to get back at me." Fester's livid eyes melted and turned pleading. "Gomez, please, I beg you, leave Flora and Fauna alone."

"Why should I do that?" Gomez asked curiously, but his eyes retaining their coldness.

"Because… because I love them," Fester admitted in a hushed voice.

Upon hearing his brother's response, a notorious glint shone in Gomez's eyes. He smiled triumphantly.

"You shouldn't have handed your opponent a hand grenade, Fester," he said.

"I do not understand," Fester asked, puzzled. He frowned, trying to process what his brother just said.

"After all that you did to me, you believe that I would take pity on you?"

"What did I do to you?"

"You denied me with the only thing I wanted!"

"What…?"

"Attention!" Gomez shouted. He threw his half-smoked cigar out the window. "You are the first born, so naturally, Mama and Papa's attention is totally yours. When I was born, they were disappointed that I was not a girl. That was the reason why Papa died. I saw his will, everything is yours! You are our parents' favorite!"

"That's not true, Gomez!" Fester cried.

"Do not lie to me, Fester! And when we were growing up, even strangers take more interest in you! The last straw is the girls."

"Girls?"

"At school! They… they fawn over you! They would only talk to me to look for you. And now that I know how much the Amore twins mean to you, I will make you feel the hurt I am feeling ever since I can remember."

"Gomez, stop this! Should I knock some sense into you?"

"Oh, do not get smart on me, Fester!"

"I will tell Flora and Fauna," threatened Fester, thinking that it would stop his brother's revenge. Gomez's response was a merciless laugh.

"As if I care, Fester. Besides, do you think they will believe you?" he asked as he shook his head with a slight laugh. "They won't. Not after everything that I told them about you."

Fester blazed with anger. He advanced to Gomez and took hold of him by the collar of his shirt.

"What did you tell them?" he asked, deeply outraged.

"I told them that the reason why you befriended them was because you had a bet with a friend of yours. That if you made one of them fall in love with you, you would get a box of dynamite caps. And if the two of them fall in love with you, the box of dynamite caps doubles," Gomez said. He smiled at his brother smugly, enjoying the hurt dancing I his eyes.

"How dare you!" Fester growled. He pushed Gomez, sending him to crash on his open closet doors with much force that it fell off its hinges and splintered under Gomez.

"And you know what else?" Gomez asked, still toying with his brother's deranged state. "They admitted to me that they already loved you. You should have seen how hurt they were. They both cried on my shoulders, swearing that they will never forgive you."

"You… you son of a bitch!" Fester cried in pure hatred. He raised his right arm and punched Gomez on the face.

Gomez landed by his bedroom door. When he looked up, a river of blood was flowing out of his mouth. Fester walked towards him, lifted him by the arms, and was about to hit him again when the door opened from the outside, sending them together on the floor.

"What is happening here?" Mrs. Addams cried as she scanned Gomez's room. She cried out when she saw the blood gushing out from her younger son's mouth. "Gomez!"

She rushed to his side but felt a harsh push, which threw her off balanced.

"I'm sorry, Mama," Fester growled. He raised an arm to hit Gomez once again but Lurch held his arm tight, preventing him from hitting his brother.

"You haven't heard the last of this, Gomez!" he shouted as he snatched his arm from Lurch and walking out of the room, helping his mother up on his way.

Despite he already achieved his goal of hurting his brother, Gomez did not feel happy as he assumed. He almost wanted to apologize to Fester, but he could not allow himself to. He had also stopped coming over the Amore's and ignoring the twins' calls for the past days that it did not surprise him to hear their voices downstairs. Frankly, he was quite irritated that they were bothering to see him. But from his room, it would seem that they were having an argument with someone. Curious and completely bored, Gomez decided to see what was happening.

He was at the top of the stairs when he saw that it was to Fester the twins were arguing with. Fester had his back at the stairs, giving Gomez no idea what his emotion was. However, he could clearly see the tears streaming down Fauna's eyes and the anguish look on Flora's face. They both turned to him as he reached the foot of the stairs. Fester also turned to face him.

"Gomez, please tell me that Fester is lying about you," Fauna begged, her eyes continuing to let go of tears.

"You got some nerve talking to us, Fester," Flora angrily said. "After all what you did to us?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that what he told you were all lies?" Fester hysterically asked, pointing on Gomez. "Ask him, yourself!"

"Gomez?" Fauna repeated, still crying.

Feeling numb and confused, and simply having no care anymore, Gomez nonchalantly shrugged. "Yes, I guess that was true."

"Which one?" Flora asked in a shocked voice. In surprise, her eyes were as big as china plates.

"Whatever Fester has told you," he replied, maintaining a blank face and an emotionless voice. He raised a hand to tick off a list. "Fester playing with you, because frankly, I am the one doing that. Me having interest to the two of you. Me loving you, because I really do not care about either of you. And well, everything that I told and shown you, were not true."

"Waaah!" Fauna cried uncontrollably.

"You mean, you have been toying with our emotions?" Flora quietly asked, but her eyes were livid.

"That would be correct," he answered nonchalantly. He turned to Fester, "Happy now, brother?"

Before Fester could reply, a loud thud sounded. He and Gomez turned to the Amore twins and saw the two of them lying unconscious on the floor. At the same moment, the front door opened, revealing a muscular couple – Mr. and Mrs. Amore.

"What did you do to our daughters?" Mrs. Amore cried as Mr. Amore carried the twins. They both glared at Gomez, demanding for an answer.

"They fainted," he simply replied, showing completely no care for either Flora or Fauna.

"But why did they faint?" Mrs. Amore pressed. And as quickly as they fainted, the twins regained consciousness just as quick. However, neither one of them spoke. Their eyes were glassy and blank, as if they were put under a deep spell. Mr. Amore put them down but they remained motionless and speechless.

"What did you do to them?" Mr. Amore asked in alarm. He snapped his fingers in front of the twins' faces but neither bat an eyelid. Fester waved his hand in front of them but still received no response.

"What did you do to them?" Mr. Amore repeated, his voice showing hints of panic.

"I will tell you what happened to them, Mr. Amore," Fester spoke up. "But we need to get them to the hospital before they could sink any deeper."

"What?" Mr. Amore asked in confusion.

"What? They are fine!" Mrs. Amore added.

"No, they are not," Fester countered. "Come, Mr. Amore!"

Blindly following Fester, Mr. Amore held Flora's hand as the former took Fauna's limp hand. Together, they half-dragged, half-carried the twins out of the house.

"But… but, what happened?" Mrs. Amore asked desperately, which briefly stopped Fester from taking another step. He turned around to face his brother, who still was looking blank and without any care. He did not let go of Fauna Amore's hand as he pointed an accusing finger at his brother. His eyes sparkled with anguished tears.

"Thanks to him, Flora and Fauna Amore are insane," he said. Mr. and Mrs. Amore gasped at the same time, but neither got the chance to say something as Fester turned around and left, the front door closing behind him.

Gomez remembered until this day the hurt and anguished look on Fester's face as he left. And that was the last time he saw Fester Addams.

*end of flashback*

Due to the depth of his reminiscing, Gomez did not notice that he already reached Manhattan Psychological Institute. He parked the car near the hospital's entrance and took the things he brought, before entering the institution.

"Good day, Mr. Addams," the guard at the front door of the hospital greeted as he opened the door for Gomez.

"Hello, Nicolas," Gomez greeted in return. He held up the two brown paper bags from the nearby grocery store he was holding to show it to the guard, Nicolas. "I'm bringing something for the twins, I hope it's alright?"

"Sure," Nicolas nodded with a smile. "Catherine is on the front desk today, it won't be a problem."

"Thank you," Gomez replied, also smiling although it did not quite reach his eyes. The guard, however, did not seem to care or notice. Instead, he tipped off his hat at him before he resumed manning his post by the hospital's doors.

Gomez walked to the front desk and greeted the receptionist with a dashing smile and a wink. Though his smile still did not reach his eyes, the receptionist blushed furiously. She tossed her overly curled brunette hair over her shoulders and grinned at him, showing her shining braces and twin dimples, while batting her eyelashes behind her big, round glasses that magnified her eyes several times.

"Hello, Fester," Catherine said with a slight lisp. She continued staring at him like some sort of overgrown insect.

At the mention of the name, Gomez's smile melted and his eyes became very morose. This however, was either ignored or was not noticed by Catherine, much like Nicolas from earlier.

"So, what can I help you with, Fester?" she asked, waking him from his morose reminiscing.

"Oh, I brought champagne. Today is the Amore twins' birthday, you see," he replied distractedly. "I was hoping you would let me sneak it in."

"Of course, I would!" Catherine exclaimed with a wink. "Anything for you, Fester."

Gomez smiled half-heartedly at her before leaving the front desk. He was halfway to the Amore twins' room when he was stopped by a doctor under the name of Brent Klein.

"Ah, Fester!" the doctor greeted. "There you are, good, good. Come with me, won't you? There are some people I would like you to meet. Or should I say, I would like them to meet you?"

Doctor Klein let out a booming laugh.

"Why, Doctor Klein?" Gomez asked warily. Somehow he had a bad feeling about the upcoming introductions.

"All in good time," Doctor Klein replied mysteriously, which quite irritated Gomez. They continued walking until they reached Flora and Fauna's room. The good doctor went in first, followed by Gomez.

"Here he is, in the flesh! Fester Addams, the man I have been telling you about. He who have been giving much progress to the twins for the past year, more than I have for the last seven years!" Doctor Klein proudly introduced.

Gomez met the eyes of the two people inside the room besides him, the twins – who were happy to see him – and they doctor, and almost fainted in shock – it's Mr. and Mrs. Amore! They seemed as angry as the last time he saw them.

"That is not Fester Addams!" cried Mr. Amore angrily. "That is Gomez Addams! The man I remember to be banned from seeing my daughters!"

"What? No, no, Mr. Amore," Doctor Klein sputtered nervously. "You must be mistaken, this is Fester. Right, Fester?"

"Do you think I do not know the man who deceived my daughters?" Mr. Amore angrily barked at Doctor Klein.

"O – of course not, Mr. Amore,"

"I should have been suspicious when you said that Fester visits Flora and Fauna regularly," Mrs. Amore said, shaking her head. "Fester's been missing for seven years!"

"Gomez! Gomez!" the Amore twins called, their arms trying to reach him under the protective backs of their parents.

"Don't you dare come closer to them," Mr. Amore warned.

"I am very sorry, Mr. Amore. I really am," Gomez meekly said. "I only –"

"I do not care!" Mr. Amore shouted. "You brought my daughters here, Addams! Leave!"

Having no other options, Gomez left without another word.

"I want him banned from this institution, Doctor Klein. Do you understand?" he heard Mrs. Amore commanded over the twins' hysterical cries.

"At this rate, I will never find my lost brother," Gomez murmured dejectedly to himself as he started the car. With a roar of the engine, he drove away, feeling more desperate of his brother's loss.

End of Chapter 2. I hope you like this chapter. Thank you for those who commented on my work, I really appreciate it. I will be waiting for your suggestions and comments. Chapter 3 would still be about the separate lives of Morticia and Gomez. Sorry for keeping the suspense up, I am thinking of making them see each other by the end of Chapter 3 and a full blown Morticia-Gomez romance on Chapter 4. :D