"I thought you weren't gonna join? You made that pretty clear you'd rather do your own thing."

"I would. I didn't wanna be out at all. Rather be 'ome 'onest." Enoch rolled his eyes and buried his hands deeper into his pockets to hide the fist he was clenching.

Hugh laughed, loud enough to make Fiona and Olive both turn around to look at them. "Yeah, double date hardly screams your thing. But if a girl is changing your mind so easily I think you've got it ba-"

"Shut up. Olive didn' make me anyway." Enoch snapped and scowled at the cobbled pavement and Hugh let out a low whistle.

"Steady on. I'm not saying anything that isn't true."

"Well you are, actually, so shut it and don't give 'er ideas." He slowly uncurled his fist inside his pocket and tensed his jaw. He'd only partly come out with them because he knew Olive wanted to, it was largely due to the alternative being suffering through another night of hounding and after a week of it, with one or both of his parents over his shoulder stricter than prison, he didn't think he could take it again.

Hugh could think whatever he wanted, just not to bully Enoch into thinking that he actually did before Enoch even knew himself.

To be perfectly honest, Enoch wasn't sure he'd even know if he loved her. Just the word sent a shiver down his spine and nerves running through his gut. He didn't know what it felt like to discern it anyway so he put it out of his mind the moment he thought of it. It was overrated and unnecessary anyway.

"You're not still embarrassed about it all are you? Blimey, you needa get over yourself one day."

" 'cause I ain't a soppy besotted puppy trailin' after someone wiv doe eyes, ya fink ya know me?" Enoch rounded on him, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he stared Hugh down who didn't look even the slightest bit bothered.

"No. But I love Fi, she knows that, and I know what it looks like. Get over your pride for five minutes Enoch. If you love her- and don't think nobody sees the way she looks at you-don't let her hang there, that's just mean."

"Stop sayin' that, or I'll show ya mean if ya don't stay out of it. One bloody word and I'll personally put ya in a casket."

"What's the matter? Aren't you coming?"

Olive's arm slipped through his elbow and Enoch started in surprise. She didn't look as if she'd heard. Nor Fiona right behind her. His eyes lingered on Olive, smiling curiously between him and Hugh and something fluttered in the centre of his chest. Damn it all, the last thing he wanted to think was that Hugh was right again. No. Enoch wanted nothing to do with it. Nothing was worth this right now.

"Nofin's worth this. I'm goin' 'ome now." He pulled his arm free and for a moment thought of kissing her cheek. But that would add fuel to the fire.

"Already? Why?" Olive's face dropped completely and he stared at her for another moment. Maybe he should have apologised. She was disappointed of course, he could see that much but right now he didn't care as much as maybe he should. It was one stifling atmosphere or another and right now he'd take the other.

"Oh come on, mate, no need for that."

Enoch shot Hugh a glare to shut him up right away and turned back to Olive with a shrug.

"Forgot, I got stuff I gotta do. I'm goin'."

"Well...do you want me to come with you?"

"No." He watched her for a second more before glancing briefly at Hugh and Fiona and turning away without another word to walk back in the opposite direction, glaring at anyone who happened to cross his line of sight with a ferocity that would have deterred Barron's Rottweiler.

Enoch let the wind slam the front door closed behind him as he stalked inside only an hour after he'd left the house.

"You're home already? I thought you were out with Olive and would be later than this."

"Change'a plans." He stormed right down the hallway without so much as a glance at his parents who he could imagine very easily exchanging raised eyebrows and rolling eyes at his expense.

"I hope you know what the alternative is!" His father's voice sounded loudly after him and now Enoch rolled his eyes as he went straight to his bedroom instead.

"Whateva..." He grumbled to himself. It still seemed like an odd bargain to him to have made in the first place but who was he to argue his case? Apparently nobody.

xxxXxxx

It wasn't that Enoch wanted to avoid her. Not at all. He liked having Olive around him, he almost preferred it to solitude sometimes. But after all but abandoning her with Fiona and Hugh, and running off with no reason, he did feel slightly guilty. So instead of facing that and explaining or apologising, he preferred to ignore it, and try and avoid her.

Enoch had gotten into the habit of leaving his bag off the seat beside him on the bus as an unspoken invitation to Olive, and only Olive, to sit there. This time he put it back up, where it hadn't been for weeks and kept his eyes fixed out the window stonily at Olive's stop. He could practically feel her disappointment when she stopped next to his seat and clearly saw the bag, only to turn around and sit with Emma again instead, who had been shooting dirty looks at Enoch the whole time.

Whatever she might have been thinking, Enoch didn't dwell on it and didn't so much as say a word to her the whole morning. He didn't want to face it, he didn't even want to entertain the idea that maybe he didn't just like Olive a hell of a lot, because, damn Hugh to hell, that was all Enoch had thought about, try as he might not to. It was hardly anything he could have, or would have asked anyone about. Even if he wanted to it had been awkward and unpleasant enough sitting through every other kind of conversation under the sun when his parents even found out about Olive at all. Enoch didn't want to deal with it.

So the easiest way for him not to deal with it until it all blew over, was to not have to see her and sit with her and want to kiss her every time she was there because that threw everything right out of the nice proportions he liked to keep it in.

Thankfully, he had no classes with her before lunch anyway and it was easy to avoid Olive. But then it was History and he couldn't pretend not to notice her when they sat right beside each other.

"Enoch? Is something the matter?"

He closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face at Olive's words before snapping them open again and staring straight ahead as coolly as he could. "Nope."

"Why did you have to go last night?"

"Yes, Enoch. Why did you?" Fiona chimed in and Enoch turned his head the most minute amount to glare at her past Olive. If Hugh had said anything to her...

But something told him Hugh hadn't. Close a couple as Hugh and Fiona might be, Hugh did know how much Enoch would have wanted to pummel him had he implied it to anyone else, and it was hardly his place to do so. No. He didn't think he'd told Fiona.

"I told ya. Stuff I 'ad ta do." He replied curtly and only glanced at Olive. "You knew I didn' wanna go anyway."

"I didn't actually, you could have said so." Olive looked slightly hurt and Enoch regretted it ever so slightly but he said nothing to apologise, or even take it back right then.

Instead, he just grunted and shrugged his shoulders, pretending to be a lot more interested in jotting down notes than he actually was.

Fortunately, for his own sanity, Enoch's free period spared him any more muttered excuses and confusion. Or perhaps unfortunately. He would have rather suffered through an awkward hour trying to pretend nothing was different with Olive than say two words to Jack Bentham. It was not to be.

"Trouble in paradise?"

Enoch closed his eyes, facing his locker and let out a long breath through his teeth. He could tell himself not to react, he was good at not reacting and up until he and Olive had become public knowledge, it was easy to ignore because the insults and crude remarks weren't directed towards anyone he cared about. He let the metal door swing closed with a loud, metallic bang and turned around on the spot stiffly.

"It's so easy to hit your nerves now, freak...you know, I'd almost given up before, it wasn't worth the challenge but now..." Bentham sneered and took a few steps across the hall towards Enoch with a greasy grin "Oh now it is. She finally realise she's wasting her time?"

"Bugger off." Enoch rolled his eyes and went out of his way to shoulder Jack out of his path as he passed.

"Now that wasn't nice, I was only asking a question."

To Enoch's great dismay Bentham only stepped in front of him and stopped Enoch in his track with an elbow.

"Uh, uh, uh...not so quick, we're having a friendly conversation."

"I've 'ad friendlier wiv a corpse."

"So what's the problem? Won't give it up? She realise what a freak you are and give up on you like everyone else?"

Enoch felt an unpleasant scrape as he ground his teeth together and roughly threw away Bentham's threatening arm. "Absolutely nothing. Now shove off. Now."

"Because I was thinking...if she'd handed in her lot with the likes of you...well...Olive's not a bad looking girl at all and-"

Enoch's rage boiled over in a matter of seconds and without a thought to anything else he had seized Bentham, a few full inches shorter than he was by the collar. "Not if ya know what's good for ya, ya sorry piece of-"

Jack was not at all deterred. In fact, to Enoch's annoyance, he laughed and roughly threw Enoch's hand off him like it were something filthy that needed sterilising, which wasn't at all far from the truth.

"I'll have to burn this shirt if the likes of an undertaker's son touches it again. It's no wonder you two aren't compatible is it?"

Whoever started it, Enoch couldn't quite recall. But all he knew next was simultaneous sensation of a throbbing jaw and his fist connecting with something. Then someone wrenched him away and Jack was still laughing, madly, no, maniacally as he pressed his hand to his left eye.

"Nasty when provoked aren't we? I'd scram before someone gets 'ere, freak..."

xxxXxxx

"Olive...what are y-" Enoch's eyebrows shot up when Olive appeared at the side of his seat, sure enough of herself to move his bag and sit down on the edge. So much for his ideas about ignoring her. He turned his head carefully, to hide the darkening bruise on the right side of his jaw from her view.

"Look I'm sorry, clearly you're not in any sort of mood to see me but I have to know why."

"I told you." Enoch's heart pounded harder in his chest as he lifted his hand subtly to rub his temple, any further excuse to hide that he'd had any sort of altercation on her defence.

"Not very much. At least put my mind at ease and tell me if it was me or it wasn't."

His gaze abruptly shot down as she took his free hand in both of her own and familiar warmth started to spread through his chest, down his arm and right into the palm of his hand. He didn't pull away immediately but clenched and unclenched his jaw, determined not to let anything show.

"No. Not you. 'appy now?"

"No I'm not happy, you've been really distan-Enoch, what's that?" One of Olive's hands left his and reached for his chin which Enoch might have let her do any other time. But not now. He flinched away and turned his head, pulling his hand out of hers and leaning his elbow on the windowsill.

"Nothing. It's fine. Leave me alone."

Olive's hands fell away from him and a few people glanced curiously over at them for a moment before he felt her stand back up. Enoch looked at her out of the corner of his eye without so much as turning his head and said nothing as she replaced his bag on the chair, and moved away. He returned his cool stare to the window.

Maybe he was proud and maybe he was scared, probably a bit of both with a dash of confused thrown in the mix. There was definitely a twinge of guilt that time. About nothing else would Enoch ever have admitted that Bentham, or anyone for that matter, would ever have been right, but he didn't deserve Olive. He could tell himself that much.

Idiot.