Olive's heart was beating so hard and loud in her chest that she was sure that the whole room must be able to hear it. If it hadn't been beating hard enough before at the awful movie she had been roped in to watch, it certainly was now the moment she felt Enoch's cool hand on her shoulder.

Olive hated horror movies. She hated being made to leap out of her skin at every scream and the sight of so much blood and violence made her sick to her stomach. How anyone could stand them, let alone enjoy it, she would never understand. During the movie, when she wasn't glued to the screen in a terror that wouldn't let her look away, she would sneak the occasion glance at the dark-haired boy to her left. Enoch watched impassively, cool and collected in comparison to her grimaces of disgust.

She had always liked his jawline and cheekbones that sometimes stood out in a flash of flickering brightness from the screen against the paleness of his face.

It must have been an automatic response, to turn and try and curl into whoever was beside her because for the life of her she could not remember consciously curling into Enoch. Then suddenly, as much of a surprise to her as Olive was sure it had been to him, she felt his long fingers wrap around her shoulder and an unexpectedly gently arm rest behind her.

What on earth had possessed Enoch she had no idea but for a long moment they just stared at each other, green eyes into blue, and Olive was convinced that at any moment he would realise what he was doing, be appalled with himself and irritated with her, and close again into that barely decipherable armour he wore. Why on earth had she done that?

But then he nodded and the look in his eyes was so very like the day he'd told her she was worth fighting for that Olive believed that he was okay with her. His arm felt right around her and, though it was only a movie was terrified of, she felt safer with him now than ever before.

When she looked back at the screen, it wasn't ghosts and hauntings that Olive was thinking about anymore, okay...maybe it was, but that certainly wasn't all. It was how Enoch's uncommon and unexpected openness with her, made the whole thing much more bearable in fact, dare she think, she would quite happily watch another one now.

It lasted a whole ten minutes, in which Olive jumped more than once and in response Enoch squeezed her arm. Now that could well have been a 'stop it and stay still' as much as a 'calm down, it's fake', but she would take what she could get.

Then it happened. Olive's entire world caved in and crumbled around her when someone, namely Hugh Apiston, decided to whistle.

"Enoch and O-live, sittin' in a tree-" He sung loudly in a carefree, teasing tone that did not compliment the nature of the night, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

Enoch moved as quickly as if he'd been burned, drawing his arm completely away from her as she straightened herself back up on the couch and blushed furiously from head to toe.

No one was watching the movie anymore. All eyes were on them and Emma, to Olive's right was grinning from ear to ear. "I told you..." She said, none too quietly while Jacob stared over their heads at Enoch as if he'd just grown a second head.

"I-h-it's scary!" Her voice came out a high-pitched squeak in her embarrassment and she could practically feel Enoch fuming as he leaned away from her now and over the arm of the couch.

"How cute are you tw-"

"'ow old are you s'posed to be, Hugh? Seven?" Enoch seethed and as Olive stole a glance at him, she wasn't at all surprised to see his cheeks every bit as red as hers. It didn't look quite right on his normally pale face.

"What?! I thought you were coming out of denia-"

"Shut up!"

"I didn't think I'd ever see Enoch blush like that..." Millard joined in and waggled his eyebrows at Olive.

She groaned and hid her face in her hands. Of course. Of course, this was going to happen. She could already see it.

"It's 'ot in 'ere. Shut the 'ell up. I'm gettin' somethin' ta drink." Enoch growled and promptly pushed himself up and away from the couch to storm out of the room.

Olive watched him go, staring at his back because she didn't want to look at anyone else in the room. They weren't being mean, not at all, they were just laughing and being typical friends, she knew that. Enoch didn't seem to have many of those and his nature certainly didn't compliment the friendly teasing. It was poking a sleeping dragon, like Hugh said.

"That might be the best thing that's ever happened."

Hugh snickered and Emma leaned over and poked Olive's side to make her squirm even more.

"Still think he doesn't like you?"

"I didn't even know and I don't think he did either, shush..." The red head wrinkled her nose and tried, ridiculously, to control the flow of blood to her cheeks as she stood up, very nearly tripping right over the upturned bowl on the floor. "He didn't want to come along in the first place."

xxxXxxx

"Enoch..."

Enoch had found his way to the kitchen but was hardly getting the drink he claimed to be by the time Olive followed him in. He was standing with his arms folded tightly across his chest, scowling at the floor. His eyes were shaded by a few locks of hair that fell over his forehead but his cheeks were clearly still every bit as red as they had been. Every part of his body language now screamed 'leave me alone' but if she did, it would only get worse as he stewed.

"What?"

"They were only teasing..."

Enoch's eyes snapped up and met hers so suddenly Olive was slightly taken aback.

"That's why your face is that red is it? 'Cause you don' mind it?"

Olive closed her mouth and wrinkled her nose slightly as she shifted her feet awkwardly on the other side of the island bench from Enoch where he was leaning up against the sink.

"They don't mean any harm by it."

"You fink I don't know that? I don' care." Enoch grunted and he looked away from her, turning his intense gaze on a bowl of fruit instead.

"It certainly seems like you do-" Olive gasped suddenly as someone screamed in the other room and Enoch smirked at her, his foul mood apparently forgotten for a moment before he remembered to be surly and frowned again.

"We don' needa talk 'bout it."

Olive liked his accent, she realised. The thick Cockney sound that was so very East London that he'd clearly gotten from his father, the one time Olive had seen him anyway. Quite frankly there were times, when Enoch dropped all his 'h's' and often the 'd' or 't' at the end of words too, that he was nearly impossible to understand but that just made him more uniquely Enoch to her.

She shook her head to clear it, quite glad to be out of the room and away from the horrible movie, and steeled her nerve as she walked around the counter to Enoch's side.

"I hope you know it was nice of you. It did make me feel better."

"Is'at not talkin' 'bout it?"

"If you don't care what they think then why are you sulking?"

"I don't care what Hugh, or Emma thinks. Hugh can say what the 'ell 'e likes to me." Enoch snapped, suddenly rounding on her in annoyance and Olive took a step back. Her heart skipped a beat when he looked her in the eyes again. His skin still held just a hint of pink and his eyes seemed especially blue in the proximity. He was annoyed but there was something else there akin to the look in his eyes when he'd stood up for her in front of half the school.

It hit her as suddenly as if something had just dropped out of the sky between them. Enoch wasn't lying, or hiding, not completely anyway. It wasn't what anyone else thought that he cared about, it was what she thought. Of course, that was ridiculous, and maddeningly hopeful of her to think but she knew there was something more vulnerable beneath Enoch's nearly impossible to crack shell than he ever wanted to let show.

"If you think I mind what anyone else might think then you're wrong. I like it when you're nice, believe it or not."

Enoch said nothing. He just looked at her and his face softened just the tiniest bit. He had to know. Enoch was far from unobservant, he had to know that she cared about him, Olive was sure that she was painfully obvious about it.

She was struck with the overwhelming, and thoroughly foolish urge to hop up on her tip toes and kiss him. Stop it, Olive. She scolded herself and her cheeks turned a fresh shade of pink when Enoch's brow furrowed a little. They were closer again, when had that happened? She didn't remember moving, it must have been Enoch...close enough so that she had to tilt her chin up to be able to look him in the eye.

"...what?" She asked, swallowing a lump in her throat. She felt like one of his drawings, like he could see right through her to her bones, the basest and simplest form of her.

She could have sworn in that moment that she'd felt his body heat as he took another step closer, and that Enoch's head had tilted slightly and his eyes started to close though it was so very un-Enoch to do. Hers certainly had.

"You're certainly taking your time to get a-oh my!"

As suddenly as they had been drawn together, Olive and Enoch moved apart, both turning to look wide eyed at Emma who stood in the doorway, staring at them with her mouth agape.

"I'm-uh...okay...the...I'll just leave you two to it..." The blonde girl could hardly control her grin as she looked at them and Olive for a moment could not have been more annoyed with her best friend.

"We wer-" But Emma had already backed out of the room and Olive snuck a glance at Enoch who was looking everywhere but at her now.

xxxXxxx

The rest of Halloween night, until people began to trickle off home, Olive and Enoch spent in a slightly uncomfortable silence. Neither of them spoke about it, and would only occasionally steal a glance at the other so that by the time school rolled around, it was as if nothing had happened at all.

Except it wasn't.

Olive had told Emma, partly because she needed to talk to someone and partly because the other girl simply would not let it go. There was a very tangible tension that hadn't been there before when she and Enoch sat together in Biology despite his coolness and apparent determination to pretend that nothing had happened. She wanted to talk to him, to ask him why he had suddenly wanted to comfort her, what he was thinking when he studied her like he had done, but she could not muster the courage. If she did ask, he would shrug it off.

She wanted to believe that Enoch did care and that he meant everything he'd done for her. That she was the reason he let a part of his icy exterior melt around her.

"He was trying to kiss you. Yes, he likes you, come on, Olive. Do you think he's going to ever act on that on his own? This is Enoch O'Connor we're talking about."

"You don't know that he was." Olive wrinkled her nose and whispered back over the table in the library where the two girls sat. "And do you think he's really going to respond if I told him? Besides...I'm pretty sure he knows."

"Uh hello?" Before Olive could stop her, Emma had reached over and gently whacked her on the head with a notebook. "He so was, besides, he was basically hugging you. I've never seen Enoch so much as touch a girl's arm before you caught his attention and if I have to say it one more time, Olive Elephanta, I'm going to march over to him and tell him myself."

It was a very real threat. Emma definitely wouldn't have any qualms about doing that at Olive's expense. The red head glared at her and propped up her chin in the palm of her hand as her elbow rested on the table.

"But...what if he doesn't?"

"Then you know, don't you? But really...you're like his best friend. Granted I'm not sure how many friends Enoch has but...that counts for a lot."