Enoch sighed and rolled his eyes as he stood on the Apiston's doorstep again for the second time in the holidays. He could hear the music through the door, and already his guard was way up. He knew very well this was supposed to be a proper New Years Party, Hugh had made it pretty clear in the invitation that there would be a whole lot of people from school. Olive was the only reason he'd agreed to come.

He didn't bother to ring the bell and just let himself inside where a frown immediately set itself in place. A few curious heads had to turned automatically to see who had just arrived to the party in time with an annoyingly inconveniently timed break in the music between songs. One or two people performed a double take which might have been comical had it not been at Enoch's expense. He might not like any of them, or even know their names for the most part, but they probably knew Enoch by reputation. A reputation which was certainly not for being social and being invited to parties. He could practically feel people staring which in itself did not concern him, he was used to that. He barely recognised any of the first dozen or so people he saw, except for Hugh who had craned his neck to see who had come in. Hugh grinned and waved, a gesture which Enoch did not respond to at all apart from starting to pick his way through the crowd towards them.

Then a girl in an R2D2 patterned dress cut out in front of him and Enoch had to take a full step back to avoid walking straight into her. "Uh..."

"So is it true?"

"...'oo the 'ell are you?" He snapped and glared in annoyance at the girl who he only vaguely remembered seeing around school. She might have been in his History Class, or Biology or something, he didn't pay enough attention to remember.

"About you and Olive, is it true?"

Her grin was slightly unnerving and a little too excited that it only made Enoch scowl harder and try and shoulder his way past her. To his intense distaste, she hopped right along beside him and then there were two. Another girl whom he didn't recognise at all appeared on his right.

"Are you together? You're together aren't you! That picture was real!"

"Nick off!" Enoch snapped and none too gently shoved away from them. Behind his back he heard one of them squeal and the other, through the hum of conversation and music, say a little too loudly to her friend,

"He totally confirmed it, Sketch!"

"Woah-ho...what was that all about?" Hugh grinned as Enoch finally shook himself free and sulkily made it over to them.

Enoch just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, stepping back to stand by a wall instead. "Do I look like I know any'a these people? Whateva."

"Oh you know a few. Not that you're likely to, you know, actually have a conversation with anyone. At least you made it!"

Enoch just started at him completely unamused by anything that was going on and cast a critical eye around the crowded rooms. "Wh-"

"She's somewhere over there with Fiona, I just saw them a minute ago. Olive and Emma got here about twenty minutes ago." Hugh turned and pointed off into the next room in which the tap of pool cues and billiard balls could be heard. "Try not to brood in a corner until midnight, will you, mate? Have a little fun."

"Not my idea of fun." Enoch just glared and turned to peer through the doorway to try and catch sight of a head of red hair.

It took a minute but he found her near the window in conversation with Fiona. Her back was to him so when she turned he could only see her face in profile. He took a step forward and stopped when Fiona seemed to notice him and whisper something to Olive. She turned around and smiled and Enoch looked away and backed up back into the considerably less crowded corner.

She was coming to find him, he knew that before he could even look back around and see her. That suited him, the less people he had to shove through the better. Enoch crossed his arms uncomfortably over his chest and glared stoically around at everyone and everything until there was a hand on his arm and Olive's very bubbly presence at his side.

"Hey! I was starting to think you weren't going to show after all."

He sighed and turned to raise an eyebrow down at her...suddenly a lot less down that he'd expected. She was several inches taller somehow and a lot closer to his height. He'd never seen her in heels before and whatever little he had to say vanished on his tongue as he properly looked at her. Forget Christmas, Olive was far more dressed up than Enoch had ever seen. Why that was entirely surprising, he wasn't sure. There'd never been the occasion to and he was hardly the type to ask a girl to dinner.

He was staring again, his eyes automatically scanning over the mauve, slightly off shoulder dress that reached just to her knees and his gaze lingered maybe a little bit too long. His whole mouth suddenly went dry and it was all he could do to keep himself in check enough to look back up and keep his face as impassive as possible.

"What? Not even a hello?"

Enoch's eyes followed her fingers down his arm into his hand but he didn't squeeze her hand back.

"Hey."

"Man of few words at the best of times but come on." Olive just laughed and kissed his cheek. Enoch's lip twitched the tiniest bit, which never went unnoticed by Olive. He was never comfortable with affection in front of other people. Alone, he could lower his walls just a little bit, but with anyone else there to see, they were higher and thicker than ever.

"See? Look!"

Both Olive and Enoch turned around in time to see the same girls Enoch was rapidly getting sick of quickly turning away and giggling a few metres away from them. He promptly pulled his hand away and scowled at the floor. "Oh for-I'm gettin' a drink. Want one?"

He barely gave her a chance to reply before meeting her eyes once and moving off, sidling and shouldering his way towards the drinks which was fortunately more or less vacant.

Enoch let out a long breath, intentionally taking his time to pour just two cups of punch and chanced a glance over his shoulder at Olive again. If she'd been even prettier at Christmas she was gorgeous now.

"Don't look now, but you're drooling."

"What? Not I ain't." Enoch's head snapped around at the exact moment the punch overfilled the cup and splashed over his hand. Swearing under his breath he wiped his hands on his jeans and lifted the cup to drink the excess before glaring at Hugh. "What the 'ell d'ya do that for?"

"Well that was you not watching actually but blame me if you want." Hugh grinned and followed where Enoch's line of sight had been a few seconds ago. "It's okay, you can admit you're human."

"Dunno what you're talkin' 'bout but stop it."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now I'm gonna go find my girlfriend." Hugh clapped a hand on Enoch's shoulder as she moved by with a very knowing grin that Enoch didn't at all appreciate. How long it was going to take for this to stop, Enoch had no idea but he didn't like it and a sudden realisation that it might not ever go away was starting to sink in.

His eyes drifted back towards the corner Olive was waiting for him in as he picked up both cups and Enoch's eyes suddenly narrowed. Olive looked slightly uncomfortable, he might not be great at social cues but uncomfortable was a feeling he knew very well as a part of himself. And leaning with one hand flat on the wall near her head was a scruffy haired blonde with his shirt unbuttoned way too far that Enoch didn't recognise at all. He very nearly crushed one of the cups as he pushed roughly by Horace who muttered something about rudeness behind him, and stormed over.

A familiar, jealous anger easily ignited was starting to boil up as he stepped right up beside Olive, held out one of the cups to her and protectively put a hand on her back without so much as looking. Instead Enoch's glare was fixed hard on the other boy. "Get lost."

"Oh come on...everyone knows you got no business with such a pretty girl. I'm just asking her to dance a little."

Enoch's scowl deepened and a muscle twitched in his jaw before he felt Olive's hand on his arm, quietly telling him to relax. He paid it no mind.

"Try an' 'it on 'er again, I dare ya. Move along."

It took a few moments, in which his glare didn't falter in the least, but it worked and with a scoff and a roll of the eyes the blonde left them alone.

"I did tell him no, Enoch." Olive said behind the cup where Enoch was sure she was hiding a smile as her hand slid off his arm again.

"I know." Enoch muttered and was suddenly very conscious of his hand still resting on the small of her back. He removed it slowly. "They should just bloody know ya ain't no game to 'one in on. It ain't funny."

"You're jealous even when you have nothing to be jealous of..."

Olive poked him in the side and Enoch almost spat out a mouthful of punch to glare at her, half-heartedly. "Maybe not of but jealous for is a different thing."

"Well...you could dance with me?"

If Olive seriously thought he was going to do it then she would be bitterly disappointed. He just stared at her for a good few seconds before scoffing and rolling his eyes. "We both know that ain't gonna happen."

"Well, it was worth a shot."

xxxXxxx

An hour or so later, Enoch had somehow been roped into a conversation with several of the people who annoyed him the most in the entire school. Olive was there, and Millard had appeared from somewhere who carried most of the conversation and whose company Enoch tolerated, and then there was, less fortunately, a Romani boy called Radi who was, apparently, one of Millard's friends since high school and never stopped talking about everything and anything once he started, the two girls who he now knew were Rose and "Sketch" apparently, and Horace. Enoch would rather have kept company with Malthus the dog than all of them together.

He remained largely silent except to snap the odd comment directed at him down in fire and, particularly in front of the two girls who seemed intent on getting a direct answer about his and Olive's relationship, made a conscious effort not to get right up close to Olive.

"What kinda prat wears a bowtie?" Enoch interrupted whatever nonsense the Romani boy was spouting and rolled his eyes, not at all for the first time at Horace's sense of attire. A full four piece suit? Really?

"The kind of well-dressed gentleman who would prefer to actually look sophisticated-"

"At a teenagers New Years Party? Really?"

Millard let out a loud laugh. "This coming from you, Enoch? Who doesn't do the whole party thing at all?"

"Least I dress normal."

The door suddenly slammed, effectively getting the attention of almost everyone and someone actually turned down the music for a moment as all eyes went to the door.

"Now...who would have a party and not invite me?!"

With a self-satisfied grin and outstretched arms, Jack Bentham had admitted himself, flanked by Golan and another crony and looking for all the world like he thought he owned the house.

"Okay, who told them about it?" Somebody muttered behind Enoch just before Hugh shouldered his way through the middle of the group towards Bentham with a clenched jaw and an uncharacteristic scowl on his face.

"You weren't invited, Jack. You can leave."

"Aww, but everyone else is here..." Bentham tutted and made a show of looking around the room. "Geeks, the football team, and-ah ha!-" His gaze obviously went to Enoch who very much wanted to push him out of the house himself, "-even a freak or two that no one likes. Impressive. Clearly this is the place to be."

"For everyone but you and your pathetic henchmen, yeah." Hugh shrugged and nodded to the door. "Leave."

"Relax, mate."

"Not your mate."

"Oh come on, I'm not gonna cause trouble..." The grin on Bentham's face clearly said otherwise even while he held out his hand to shake in what Enoch supposed was meant to be a false gesture of civility, "We're just here for the party too. Unless it's too damn boring anyway, then we'll leave."

"One word about you, Jack. One. Word. And you're out."

xxxXxxx

Enoch was rapidly getting hotter and hotter. There were too many people he didn't like, and too close together for him to believe anyone could find this environment enjoyable. If he'd been uncomfortable from the start it was a hundred times worse now. He'd retreated to be by himself, as well as he could, while Olive was talking to Emma but it hadn't helped much. He tugged on the collar of his shirt before crossing his hands tightly over his chest and his shoulders hunched tensely.

"Enoch?"

He'd been so fixed on keeping his eyes on the floor he hadn't noticed Olive coming over at all. His eyes snapped up but he didn't hold her eyes for long.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine."

"No you're not, come on, we'll go outside."

He let her tug his arm until he straightened up off the wall, and lead him down the corridor, past a group of cackling girls, and out the backdoor. The moment Enoch got outside it eased off a little. It was cold out, and fortunately, no one else had had the same idea.

Olive wobbled a little on the pavement in her heels and grabbed onto his arm for support before she righted herself. Enoch largely ignored this and let out a long, tense breath as he stepped down into the narrow, fenced in back yard where he sat down on a bench seat in view of the window and drummed his fingers together tensely.

"You hate it don't you?"

"What was ya first clue, Olive?" He muttered as she sat down beside him, close enough so their legs touched and her knees just visible below the hem of her dress. He didn't push her away, it was getting so familiar now that her presence helped rather than hindered.

After a minute or two in silence he felt her hand on his arm again and looked over at her. She gently pulled his hand away from the others and for the first time that night he let her. Where no one could see, and they weren't surrounded by people, friendly or not, Enoch was much more relaxed. Solitude was his element, and even if that had expanded to semi-solitude to include Olive too, he didn't mind so much. Slowly he wrapped his fingers around her hand in return and nodded slowly to her. Her skin was cold, and no wonder given her dress.

"You cold?"

"Oh I'm naturally warm, you know that." Olive brushed it off and Enoch scoffed.

"Careful 'oo ya say that 'round, and that ain't an answer. 'Ere..." He hesitated for a moment before shifting a little closer and letting go of Olive's hand to put an arm around her shoulders instead. She fit nicely next to him and he saw her smile down at the grass shyly.

"Olive..." Enoch hesitated and chewed the words over in his mind. He wasn't good at this, it had almost been two months and he still had no idea what he was supposed to be doing. Sure it came more naturally as it went on, and he could bluff being much more sure of himself than he was when he kissed her but he'd never really voiced how much he liked her. He still didn't think he could. Hell it had taken long enough to admit it to himself and now every time he looked at her lately he saw her in a whole different way that seemed way too obvious now to have missed.

"Olive, I know I never say it or act like it much but-oh for cryin' out loud, this is probably why-"

"Enoch." Olive had lifted her head and let his arm fall from her shoulders when she turned his chin to face her so he couldn't look away. "What is it? You can tell me."

Her eyes were even greener in the glint of the outdoor light and he actually managed to hold them for the longest time he'd tried to that night. "-I do care 'bout you. Ya know that right?"

Olive positively beamed and then leaned her head back on Enoch's shoulder. "I know, Enoch."

It happened so suddenly that Olive jumped under his arm and Enoch whipped his head around to stare at the house. All at once there was a torrent of cheering from inside, and the houses around for that matter and then the loud bangs of fireworks bursting made both of them look up and Olive get to her feet. It wasn't the best view of the fireworks but still showers of purple, red and green sparks burst in the distance over the city.

"Well that 'appened fast."

"Hey..." Olive grinned and stuck out her hand for Enoch to get up which after a moment of staring he did. "Happy New Year."

"...Uh, yeah. You too."

Before Enoch had another word to say about it, Olive was leaning forward and it briefly crossed his mind that with Olive in heels, he didn't need to lean down so much to kiss her.

"Awww...."

A millisecond later and Enoch would probably have been too occupied to notice it, but it was a fraction of a moment before they kissed that they both heard it and looked around at the window.

"Are you kiddin' me?" Enoch growled and the two half obscured figured peering out the window at them suddenly gasped and vanished. "Talk 'bout invadin' privacy."

"What th-oh!" Olive started, but Enoch had already grabbed her hand and pulled her to the side away from the window.