"Why don't you go and spend some time outside for once, Enoch? Or at least with your friends."

"Mum, stop." Enoch sighed dramatically and slumped in his desk chair, dropping his head back against the head of it in exasperation. It was just after noon on Sunday and so far, over the weekend Enoch had flitted between the house and the funeral parlour. It was hardly unusual for him, and he generally preferred it that way. Enoch's mother, however, did not and the constant pushing for him to have some sort of social interaction outside of school hours like a "normal" teenager, was beginning to irritate him more every day.

"What about Hugh? Or Emma Bloom? I know you they're your friends. I'm sure they'd-"

"Yeah sure, whateva', friends." Enoch grumbled and straightened up in his chair, leaning forward over his laptop again and trying to ignore her in his doorway.

She tutted and strolled into his room and in an instant Enoch only just managed to pull his hands away from the keyboard as his mother reached over his shoulder and closed it.

"Hey!" He spun on the chair and glared up at the concerned face of his mother. "That ain't fair!"

"I'm your mother, Enoch, it's perfectly fair." She pursed her lips and crossed her arms over his chest. "I'm getting worried about you, Enoch, I want you to spend less time cooped up in here, it's not good for you."

"I'm doin' things!" Enoch snapped but was effectively silence by a stern glare and just scowled at the floor instead.

"You're going to get some fresh air, now go." She pointed firmly to the door, looking as sternly at Enoch as he was at the floor.

There was a long tense moment of silence between mother and son before Enoch sighed and relented first. He stomped to his feet and around his mother to grab a jacket from the top of his dresser and storm out of the room with a grumbled, "Fine."

It was a cool day but otherwise not too unpleasant to be outdoors. Enoch zipped up his hoodie as he stepped out of the gate, which was in dire need of repair and was seriously threatening to come unhinged any moment.

Enoch dug his phone out of his pocket as he walked. He side stepped a puddle by the curb and crossed the cobbled road and darted down side streets until he reached the main roads again. He avoided the street markets, over crowded as ever on a Sunday by screaming children and giggling groups of girls. The chill in the air bit at his nose but considering the lack of pouring rain they'd had the last few days, it was a considerably more pleasant day for London in October.

Enoch's feet were on autopilot, stopping automatically, and mercifully so, at the roadsides before crossing as his mind drifted elsewhere.

His parents had not been pleased when he'd mumbled something about having detention on Friday, though it certainly wasn't his first. Enoch's school record was in considerably less good standing than others were. He kept to himself an awful lot but that didn't make him pleasant as anyone, apart from perhaps Olive, would attest to. Olive. Eternally optimistic Olive Elephanta. Even Enoch had to admit that, though he had found her cheerfulness, such a direct contrast with his surly temperament, annoying sometimes, it was a trait that was probably quite endearing to anyone else.

And yet, instead of pushing her away again and wanting nothing to do with her, Enoch felt himself strangely drawn to trusting her more than the people he'd gone to school with already for years.

He'd let her see what he worked on in private. The only other eyes he knew of that had seen the inside of his sketchbook were the bright green ones of Olive.

Enoch sighed to himself and tucked his hands into his pockets as he sunk down onto a bench just inside the wrought iron fence around a park. There were a few people milling here and there, gossiping teenagers and children and the odd bird feeding elderly hoping for more than the stray pigeon or two to peck at the breadcrumbs on the cold ground.

He would have preferred to be inside but at least he was escaping his parents badgering for social activity here. He shifted his gaze onto the ground and crushed a few twigs under the sole of his shoe as he tried to think about anything and everything besides a certain red head.

He was stirred from his vacant staring at the ground by someone clearing their throat and a pair of converse sneakers appearing in his line of sight.

Enoch looked up, squinting slightly at the brightness of the sun right behind a cloud before Hugh's head obscured the bright patch and his smirking face appeared.

"Good ta see you're not completely a recluse, mate."

"I was pretty much forced out 'ere." Enoch rolled his eyes and sighed, leaning forward over his knees as Hugh stepped to the side.

"Well, long as you are. Might as well have some company and hang out with us, huh?"

"Us?" Enoch's gaze shifted behind Hugh and down the path towards a group of other teenagers making their way over. Among them a familiar head of red hair. Enoch groaned and looked back at Hugh who was swaying on his feet patiently. "No thanks."

"Oh come on, Tin Man don't be so...morose."

"Oh great, that's catchin' on, is it?"

"What d'ya know? It is Enoch." A laughing voice chimed in as the group came closer and Enoch immediately began to feel stifled. Millard Nullings was the boy who had spoken. A fair skinned, shorter boy of sixteen with brown curls and green eyes. He'd come from the same school as Olive, more often than not could be found in the library, and had the top grades in each class he took, except for Biology.

Emma and Fiona were there too, and between Fiona and Millard, was Olive, much to Enoch's chagrin who had been trying to think about everything else.

"Are you actually going to join us, Enoch?" Emma asked as a strand of her blonde hair fell loose of its ponytail.

"No." Enoch mumbled just a second before Hugh grabbed his elbow and tried to haul him to his feet.

"Yes." He grinned, clapping a hand on Enoch's shoulder as Enoch scowled at him. "It's good for your social life. The lack of one you have."

"Self-imposed, thank ya very much."

xxxXxxx

That was how Enoch very reluctantly found himself amongst a group of other chatty teenagers wandering through the park and down the streets. Was this supposed to be considered fun?

Fiona and Hugh spent the entire time several metres ahead of everyone else, close enough their shoulders touched and hands occasionally fit together for a moment, but pretending, thoroughly unconvincingly that they weren't flirting.

Enoch lingered right at the back, he could had least have a little bit of solitude if he was going to be dragged along with them. Or so he thought.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a pair of smaller, feminine boots appeared at his side and Enoch sighed loudly, barely tilting his head to glance at the girl at his side.

"I didn't think you were the kind of person to spend much time outdoors?" Olive smiled over at him though Enoch was hardly even looking in her direction.

"I'm not." He replied stoically and shrugged his shoulders, his hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie, ignoring the looks Emma, ahead of them while Millard jogged to catch up with Hugh and Fiona, was not so subtly giving Olive.

Enoch might not understand girls at all on...most levels, but he wasn't blind.

"Apparently I spend too much time alone, go figure." He grunted, still slightly bitter about being sent outside against his wishes. Had Hugh not happened to catch up with him when he had, Enoch would have gone right back home.

"Well it can't hurt to see your friends sometimes."

Enoch turned his head and raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. Colour immediately flooded Olive's pale skin as she immediately tried to cover her tracks, poorly.

"I-I mean not that I'm saying we're friends yet. Not that I don't want to be your friend, I do. But you're not-yo-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know what ya meant. Don't babble on 'bout it." Enoch cut her off and Olive failed to hold his gaze immediately.

"I'm sorry."

Enoch sighed again and stopped in his tracks. Olive didn't seem to realise for another few paces and, almost to Enoch's amusement, performed a little hop as she turned around.

"What the 'ell are you sorry for? Or do you just like that word a lot?" The boy asked, shaking his head slowly to himself as Olive blushed even harder and stomped her foot on the ground to flatten a lump of upturned soil.

"I mean I'm just trying to be friendly. I'll leave you alone if you want me to. You just have to ask nicely, preferably, than pushing me away a lot."

"Oh for cryin' out loud..." Enoch grumbled and took a step closer to Olive. He stared down at her and pursed his lips slightly. The others had stopped, realising that he and she had fallen behind. Enoch's blue eyes left her green ones, surprised apparently that he had moved nearer to her. "I don't 'ate ya, if that's what you're 'ung up on. Come on, Emma didn' tell ya what I'm like?"

Olive seemed to brighten considerably and for a moment, as she looked up at him, Enoch felt a strange wriggle in his gut that was thoroughly unfamiliar and which he immediately tried to ignore.

"Well that's a relief, can you blame me for being confused? You tend to treat everyone the same way."

"Call it equality if ya like. Everyone's equally annoying some are just more...tolerable." Enoch smirked slightly and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as they started to walk back towards the rest of the group. He didn't want to raise unwelcome comments.

Olive laughed. Enoch hadn't ever paid attention to her laugh before. Or anyone's for that matter. She had an almost bell like giggle that complimented her very soft voice and, damn it all, Enoch quite liked the sound of it.

"What were you two doing?" Millard asked with a hint of laughing amusement in his voice that Enoch definitely did not like.

"We were just talking is all." Olive replied and Enoch glared out of the corner of his eyes at her half-heartedly. Yeah, because that wasn't going to raise more uninvited comments...he could practically read Hugh's mind at the boy adjusted his cap and snickered slightly at Enoch.

"I don't think I've ever seen Enoch talk that much that wasn't some snippy comment about everyone else being stupid."

" 'ho says I wasn' sayin' you're all stupid? Move along, lover boy." Enoch retorted and turned his glare on Hugh instead who just laughed at him.

"Alright boys, don't need to come to blows." Emma interrupted, giving Enoch a glare which he returned in kind and rubbing her hands together. Her eyes were fixed on a point beyond them on the street at the end of the park, not far behind Enoch's shoulder.

"I don't know about anyone else but I could do with warming up."

xxxXxxx

"You're not getting anything, Enoch?"

"Do I look like I wanna be 'ere?" Enoch raised an eyebrow at Millard as the other boy drew up an extra chair to end of the booth they were pressed into.

"Yes." Emma answered opposite Enoch where he was pressed between the window of the café and, to his great discomfort, Olive. "If you didn't, you would have stormed away a while ago."

"True, that never stopped you before. Admit it, you're warming up to us." Hugh agreed, feigning a touched expression over his honey suckle coffee before the cocky smirk appeared on his face he got when he knew he was right.

Enoch grunted and crossed his arms on the table, turning his head towards the window to sulk and trying to pretend that wasn't Olive's leg brushing his knee under the table.

Evidently the rest of the group chose to ignore his sulky mood and dissolved into conversation about school which Enoch elected to ignore for the most part while the rest of them sipped on their various blends of coffee and hot chocolates until he felt a nudge on his elbow and turned a blank expression towards Olive who was looking at him in amusement.

"What?" The boy straightened up and looked around the booth which was now empty. His eyes darted over to the door and a tinge of colour rose in his seats. Evidently he had been paying even less attention than he'd thought.

"Right..."

He was the last out of the coffee shop, just behind Olive's shoulder and pulled out his phone to check the time. He wanted to be home, and doing his own thing again. He'd been outside and, much to his mother's probable joy, with other people for almost two hours.

"Oh hello..."

Enoch glanced up to see what she was talking about.

Leashed to a bike rack at the curb side was a large, predominantly black Rottweiler. It sat placidly, with its mouth hanging open and panting as it looked at the group of teenagers. Enoch knew that dog. Its spiked collar was enough of an indication of its temperament. But apparently Olive did not.

She was smiling, and Enoch wouldn't have at all been surprised to learn she was fond of animals, and reached out a hand to pat it.

He reacted at the same moment the dog let out a vicious growl and snapped. Enoch just grabbed her wrist in before the dog's jaws could close around it and pulled her instinctively out of the way as she squealed.

"Not that dog!"

Enoch staggered back half a step as Olive collided with his chest in his rush to pull her out of the way while the dog continued to bark and growl, pulling at its chain.

"That's-" Millard started before a deeper, familiar voice interrupted and barked an order at the dog.

"Malthus! Sit!" Mr Barron stood there, pointing a warning finger at his dog which kept growling but sat obediently as the mathematics teacher bent down to unchain it, keeping it's leash short and in control.

Olive was breathing hard, Enoch could feel it as she was still pressed up against him, her wrist still held gently in his grip. Her skin was naturally very warm in comparison to his more often than not cool temperature, only adding to the direct contrast between them.

He let her go quickly as she looked at him, stammering a thank you as she calmed down.

"Sorry about Malthus. He's an excellent guard dog, doesn't like...unfamiliar faces." Mr Barron smiled a humourless smile and arched an eyebrow at the group. "Enjoy your weekend, children."

"I always thought he was a bit sinister." Millard muttered while Olive and Enoch exchanged a slightly flustered expression and both stepped away from the other.

"Don't be ridiculous, Millard, he's a teacher. Though...that's an awfully mean dog." Emma wrinkled her nose slightly as Barron and his dog disappeared around a corner.

"Thank you, Enoch." Olive said again as they remained a good two feet apart from each other. Enoch could feel the redness rising to his cheeks despite his best efforts to pretend otherwise and mumbled a "Whatever" under his breath.

"Enoch, you're a little...flushed." Hugh's lips twitched slightly as Fiona leaned up to whisper something in his ear and the two of them snickered slightly.

"It was warm in there." Enoch growled and stuffed his hands back into his pockets where they curled into fists. "I'm goin' 'ome." And without so much as a goodbye to anyone, he pushed past Hugh and Fiona and marched away down the street.