It was as if the entire world had just dissolved around them and all that existed now was she and him. An outlet. That was what he needed and right now that was Olive which was what fuelled him to try what he did and she was kissing him back with equal gusto. It was weird and warm and if he wasn't so frustrated and confused he would been far less confident than he was. Every time Enoch got to hold her like that it felt like she was just the right size against him. Like some ridiculously cheesy analogy about two pieces of a puzzle only much better. He felt her whole body tense up just slightly the moment he dared to ask permission and run his tongue along her lip and very nearly changed his mind and let her go completely. Then half a moment before he could, she responded in kind and Enoch actually felt his heart skip a beat in his chest.

But as quickly as it happened, it was over.

"Yeah. 'E looks real sick ta me."

It was little surprise that neither of them had heard the door open, or any knocking if there had been any at all but the moment a voice cut through, they leapt apart as if a fire had just started underfoot. What little colour there was drained from Enoch's face but Olive's burned redder than her father's firetruck. He wasn't sure whether to be furious or mortified or a little of both. Talk about busted. To be caught out in faking sick was one thing, that would be bad enough in the circumstances, but to be caught faking sick and definitely making out with his girlfriend was much, much worse. If they had been at her house, he would have probably been out on his ear in a second, now, he might just go deaf in one.

His mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a moment while Olive groaned and turned around to hide her face. His father was not impressed. Enoch glanced at the digital clock on his bedside table, he hadn't bargained on his father being home for at least another half an hour. Great. Maybe his would be the next funeral to worry about.

"I didn't know 'avin' an extra tongue in ya mouth 'elped the flu, son."

"Bloody 'ell, Dad! Now?" Enoch growled, running a hand over his face and automatically taking a step to the side to somewhat shield Olive who seemed whole eons more embarrassed than he was. They could at least be decent enough to let her go home before ripping into Enoch about it now especially after yesterday. "She's right 'ere! Don't ya 'ave a go at 'er, she thought I was sick too."

"I'll go, I should go, I'm really sorry." Enoch's eyes flew back to Olive who, still redder than her hair and her lips still slightly glossy, had scurried around him to pick up her bag by the door.

"Yeah. I fink that'd be best." His father didn't so much as look at her, but shook his head at Enoch and kept an ugly, stern glare fixed on him even while he watched Olive instead. She looked back at him from the doorway and smiled a little, whether it was sympathetic or just sad he couldn't quite tell. Then she was gone and the seventeen-year-old finally looked back stonily to his father.

"Do ya worst then. I don't give a crap."

"Ya will, Enoch Reuben O'Connor. I just told ya yesterday 'bout skippin' again and that's what I walk in on."

"We weren't doin' nofin'. Ain't your business anyway."

"No more closed doors, Enoch, I've 'ad it. If she comes ova ta 'study' wiv ya, that's exactly what ya gonna do."

"It's my room, ya can't make me leave the door open." Enoch probably shouldn't have said anything to that because the moment the words left his lips, a warning hand came up and his father looked sterner than he'd ever seen in his life.

"You bloody well watch me, Enoch. Might be a good fing ya finally showin' an interest in a girl but there's more important fings ya needa work on than bein' an 'ormone ridden teenager!"

"Oh for..." Enoch's scowl deepened and his ears burned hot with embarrassment as his stubborn gaze faltered.

"You don't start getting' ya grades up, ya gettin' a tutor, mark my words."

"A what? No way, I ain't gonna do it."

His father firmly jabbed a finger into the centre of his chest and Enoch's scowl deepened.

"Then clean up ya act, 'cause I'm bloody serious when I say I'm fed up."

" 'Ere's a novel idea..." Enoch was never one to bridle his tongue easily, so he didn't bother to try. "Ask me why I don't care. Probably won't tell ya, but ya never tried that did ya?" He scoffed and turned his back to walk back over to his bed and pick up his laptop in one hand. "Push me all ya want. I ain't changin' like that and Olive is good for me, not a distraction."

His father looked so angry with him that for a moment he was completely unpredictable to Enoch, but he didn't so much as budge an inch to back down and there was a long few seconds in which they both stood in stubborn silence before, to his relief, his father left the room. Enoch slammed the door on his back and then sighed as he dropped backwards to lie on his back on the bed and stare at the ceiling.

His father was completely serious and had known exactly what to threaten Enoch with. But there was no way he would have anything to do with a tutor of any kind even if he was forced to do it and he was loathe to want or need help. Enoch was quite determined he didn't need it. It was a risky game he was playing that had become riskier still the minute Olive had decided to pay a visit.

Things were better with her at least now. Amends were made, grumpy as he had been, he'd never really been mad with Olive.

What had possessed him to kiss her like he had could have been any number of pent up annoyances and frustrations he'd been harbouring for who knew how long. Forever, probably. Absently, Enoch licked his lips. That wasn't something he'd soon forget. Driven by nothing but emotion and need for contact in the heat of the moment and it had been just another thing that Enoch couldn't control. There was a lot of that of late.

xxxXxxx

"Oi, Enoch! Look alive already. I know that's hard for you but do try."

Enoch looked up and snapped out of his thoughts at a decisive whack on his shoulder as Hugh hopped up onto the wire fence beside the bench Enoch was sitting on and balanced there.

"You look worse than usual."

"An' people fink I'm socially inept." He responded dryly and crossed his arms over his chest.

Hugh laughed, and the wire fence squeaked as he swung one leg presumably to keep balance. "Bee in your bonnet, O'Connor?"

"No more than usual. What d'ya want?"

"I'm bored mostly. I've got a free and I figured you did too or you wouldn't willingly be outside."

"What's it ta you?"

"Didn't you and Olive have your frees at the same time?"

Enoch rolled his eyes and scoffed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pretended to look interested in it. "Last term, keep up wiv it."

"Well at least that means ya can keep your tongues in your own mouths for five minutes."

Enoch came dangerously close to dropping his phone right onto the pavement and, thoroughly against his will, his neck began to burn fiercely red. " 'ow the bloody 'ell..."

"Didn't until just now." Hugh let out a loud, victorious laugh and Enoch promptly swung out a leg to knock Hugh's off balance and sending the other boy toppling backwards over the fence.

To Enoch's disappointment, Hugh caught himself grabbing onto the top of the fence and awkwardly scrambled back up still laughing. "Well that wasn't very nice."

"You're one ta talk anyway. You an' Fiona are just disgustin'."

"Load of rubbish. Just because I'm not afraid to show I actually love someone-"

Enoch faked a retching sound from the back of his throat and glared at Hugh with an unmistakeable air of disgust. "If that's all ya gonna talk about, you total sap, get lost, I ain't listenin'."

Love was an overrated and ridiculous notion and not one Enoch ever thought about. From stupid gangs of giggling girls who couldn't leave a shop separately without seven different high pitched declarations of love like they'd never see each other again, to people like Hugh who unlike other boys, including Enoch, had no problem at all with the concept of loving a girl, it was just plain silly from Enoch's perspective as very much an outsider. He wouldn't even know how to recognise it and so had never considered feeling it for anyone. That was much too sappy for his consideration. At least...no.

Enoch shook his head to himself and pushed any ideas out of his head. That wasn't another thing he wanted to deal with.

"Fine, whatever. You're too proud sometimes for your own good, ya know." Hugh adjusted his cap on his head and hopped down off the fence.

"It's overrated." Enoch muttered without looking up from the ground he was staring stonily at.

"And how would you know?"

Enoch only moved his eyes, and his head just a millimetre to look up at Hugh and glare daggers at him. "Watch it, Hugh." He stayed still for a moment more before sighing and standing up to grab his things. He wasn't in the mood, he never was, to deal with any of Hugh's teasing, good natured or otherwise. It just irritated him more. Without a word he turned around, leaving Hugh scoffing behind him, and stomped away.

xxxXxxx

"Are my eyes deceiving me or are you studying?"

A chair scraped across the floor and drew in to the table beside him and Enoch lifted his head. He'd been staring, and his vision swimming, at all the numbers on the page for a full ten minutes without really focusing or taking anything in before Olive joined him.

She was smiling but Enoch gave no indication of caring one jot about that as he looked back down. He didn't want to be doing this. He didn't even want to be trying but after another week of serious threats of being completely removed from the class and nothing but arguments at home, he was more tired than he cared to admit. He didn't care if Barron had him thrown out of the class at all, in fact he would have preferred it but yet here he was after school, preferring to stay in the library than go to work and face his father.

"What're you doin'?"

"Putting in another half an hour or so. I didn't think you would be....Enoch, maths?"

He closed the textbook at once and glared down at it like it were a dirty rat.

"Not really. Not doin' much."

"I'm sorry, don't...stop because of me, it's probably good that you are."

"What's 'at s'posed ta mean?" He turned his glare on her briefly before sighing and rolling his eyes. "Didn' mean that. Rotten day when this rubbish beats anyfin' else."

Olive's hand went to his shoulder and Enoch's eyes followed it for a moment before they travelled back to her wide green eyes. Someone laughed somewhere behind the shelves to the right of the table they sat at and was promptly hushed by the patrolling old, white bearded librarian.

Olive glanced over her shoulder quickly and Enoch watched as she turned back with a familiar little smile on her face. His eyes automatically went to her lips and up again before he shifted his weight in the chair and her hand dropped off his shoulder.

"We could see a movie or something this weekend?" She offered hopefully and Enoch raised an eyebrow silently in response. "I mean, unless you're still grounded for the next...year and a half."

"I ain't." It wasn't totally truthful. He had been grounded, which hadn't at all bothered Enoch since he only left the house to see Olive anyway, but his mother would definitely be lenient if that was his reason. Besides, he'd go anyway if he was inclined to whether his parents were home to discourage it or not.

"Is that your way of saying, 'Yes, Olive, I'd really like to see you because I haven't outside of school in too long'?" Olive flashed a bright grin that made Enoch just scoff and roll his eyes again.

Her endearing positivity contrasted very directly to his doom and gloom. It wasn't quite pessimism, at least Enoch didn't consider it that. He preferred to consider himself a realist.

"No." He answered bluntly. "That's my way of sayin' maybe."

A loud cough interrupted whatever Olive was about to say, follow quickly by a deliberately choked out 'yes' from behind the same shelf. Enoch narrowed his eyes and stood up, lumbering the few steps over to the shelf and pulling out several books just below his eye level before leaning down to see through the gap. Sure enough a Star Wars bag was disappearing just to the left as he peered though. Not one for subtlety, he stuck his arm through the gap and flicked up two fingers where he knew there were two whispering girls standing to the side.

"Nick off."

He replaced the books, piled flat instead of upright where they belonged, and dropped back into the chair beside Olive.

"Really gettin' sick of bein' interrupted."

Olive smiled. She'd already gotten out her books, History apparently being her homework of choice, which Enoch had long since completed.

"Well, I'll take a 'maybe' for now then." And before Enoch could object to any affection or so much as lean away, she had leaned over again and kissed his cheek. It tingled warmly as ever where her lips touched his skin when she leaned over and he did not fail to notice the happy and innocent little smile on her face as Olive turned her attention away from him and to her work.