"You're worth it."

Enoch's words had been so unexpected that for a moment Olive was sure she had completely misheard him. It touched her to say the least and the familiar warmth she felt in the centre of her chest whenever the boy came close to smiling was back in full force.
It hurt her to see Enoch picked on by that self-righteous, too big for his boots, Jack Bentham, even though Enoch probably didn't care so much himself. She didn't think he was a freak at all. Even seeing the kind of, slightly morbid but no less skilful, things he drew, she thought he was different and interesting.

But when she'd found her courage and stood up for him Enoch had looked more embarrassed than anything else and she knew she'd trodden on his pride. But it had been too late to back off then and she was going to give Jack a piece of her mind.

But the selfish shield that Enoch kept up around himself had dropped in the most unexpected of ways the moment that the slimy boy had turned his attentions to Olive. Bentham repulsed her completely and she would have been very tempted to slap him herself had Enoch not got there first.

He had been so angry, she felt the tremors running through his arm when she'd touched him to try and pull him back. It was a defensiveness not unlike that when he'd shouted at Jacob, only far more.

It was because of Olive stepping in that things had escalated so far. Because of her that Enoch's lip was bleeding and he was left with a shiner of a black eye. Admittedly he'd given Jack as good or better than he'd gotten but Olive couldn't shake the guilt that it had all been because of her.

But the look on Enoch's face when he looked at her made her want to cry. There was an honesty in them when he said she was worth it that made her hope. He did care. She was right to see the best in him, even if Enoch's methods and manners might need refining.

Against her better judgement, and almost subconsciously, Olive found herself leaning forward just slightly towards him. Whatever she had been thinking was immediately put to rest however by the swinging of the front doors. A man strode in, not too much taller than Enoch already was and it was clear from looking at him it was his father.

The man had the same head of dark, waving hair that his son had clearly inherited and the same high cheek bones and slightly triangular face as Enoch. Unlike Enoch however, his eyes were a dark brown.

"Enoch Reuben O'Connor when your mother 'ears 'bout this..." He sounded every bit as Cockney as Enoch too.

Enoch groaned and cringed visibly at the use of his middle name as Olive's eyes shot up. She had not been expecting Reuben of all things. It was almost as unusual a name as 'Enoch' was.

The principal's office door opened beside them and Miss Peregrine stepped out.
"Mr. O'Connor...please do come in for a moment..."

The undertaker shook his head at his son, who was determinedly not looking up at him, and passed by them into the office.

"I hope you're not in too much trouble because of me..." Olive whispered and offered Enoch, who was looking at the floor instead, a small smile.

The boy scoffed and shrugged before he lifted his head to look at her coolly again.

"Don't matter. Bit of a tellin' off and a groundin'. As if that's a punishment. Apparently, I 'ave an attitude."

"You? I can't believe that."

Enoch smirked and Olive smiled a little which quickly turned into a cringe when Enoch winced right after.
"You missed the bus." He said obviously after a moment and Olive smiled a little again and shrugged her shoulders.

"Doesn't matter, it's not the first time I've walked. Mum might pick me up if I ask anyway."

They sat in silence for another minute before the office door opened again and Enoch's father stepped out to stand in front of his son. He glanced at Olive for a moment and curiosity flickered across his face for a moment before he gestured for Enoch to get up.

"Fightin' now, son? We're gonna talk about this properly at 'ome. Let's go."

Olive wasn't quite sure if it was a good idea or not but she acted before she thought it through and jumped to her feet when Enoch got up.

"Mr O'Connor, Enoch was only standing up for me. It might not have been a way to go about it, but he was trying."

"Olive, c'mon..." Enoch grumbled and Olive didn't miss the moment that the undertaker's eyebrows shot up into his hair and he looked at Enoch like he'd never seen him before.

"...Duly noted..." The man nodded at her and Olive stepped back and bent down to pick up her bag. "But don't fink you're in any less trouble, young man."

xxxXxxx

"Come on, if that's not Enoch's way of saying 'get away from my girl', then I'm a...bumblebee." Hugh snorted and buttoned his coat one more button as the small group of teenagers picked their way through Westfield shopping centre, stores buzzing with Halloween gear.
"Not to mention how he reacted to Jacob that time." Fiona added, pinching a piece of sweetened popcorn from the bag Hugh was holding and popping it into her mouth.

"Good on him too...Jack's had it coming from Enoch all term. It's like poking a sleeping dragon."

"Enoch hardly seems like the type to like anyone like that." Olive muttered, her cheeks a violent shade of pink at the conversation topic.

"Oh come on, you're not that naïve, Oli. I mean....to be fair, I was convinced he was a robot for about two years." Emma shrugged her shoulders and sat herself down decidedly on a bench in the middle of the shopping centre, prompting everyone else to stop. "My parents are going out for Halloween night so I have to take Julia trick or treating next weekend. They said I can have people over after though if it's all over before they get home. What do you think?"

"Definitely. Beats sitting at home playing video games. If I can pick a movie?" Hugh grinned a little unnervingly and Fiona immediately glared at him at the same moment both Emma and Millard said "No!" in unison.

"Not all of us like jump scares around every corner, Hugh." Emma snapped and Hugh raised his hands in front of him innocently.

"Okay, okay...I'm still up for it anyway."

"I would invite Enoch..." Olive didn't miss the glance the blonde shot at her while she spoke "But I think we all know he wouldn't go anyway."

"For someone who works in...essentially a morgue, you'd think he wouldn't mind Halloween." Millard chimed in and Olive frowned over at him, about to speak before Hugh got in first.

"If Enoch cares about any holiday it would be Halloween. It's the idea of being social that repulses him."

"It's still only polite to ask." Olive piped up, though she knew very well that Emma was correct. No way would Enoch want to come.

"Actually..." Emma beamed over at Olive and clapped her hands excitedly. "If you asked him I bet he'd have at least a ten percent chance of saying yes."

"I really don't think he would."

"More so than if anyone else did."

xxxXxxx

"No. No way." Enoch didn't so much as look up from his homework where he sat in the back corner of the library during their free period. Olive had drawn up a chair opposite him, not at his invitation but neither to his obvious distaste. If anything, Enoch had looked momentarily glad to see her there.

The boy's bruises had gone down considerably and where he had a few days ago had an ugly, dark bruise around his right eye, there was now a large, but considerably less noticeable, shadow of a bruise that blended quite conveniently with the heavy rings that were always present.

The girl sighed and shrugged as she drummed her nails on the table top and watched Enoch's face wrinkle a little as he scribbled numbers and equations slowly.
"I didn't think you would want to. Emma seemed to think you would be more likely to say yes coming from me."

Enoch looked up and raised an eyebrow and Olive couldn't help but blush a little at his expression, blackened eye aside, Enoch still had quite the smouldering look when he wanted to.

"Emma Bloom don't know what she's talkin' about."

"Well that's what I said...more or less." Olive brightened slightly when Enoch put down his pen and sat up straighter in his chair to look directly at her.

"Even if I wanted ta, which I don' particularly, I'm grounded the next weekend too...my parents seem to fink that's a punishment. Like I was gonna go anywhere." The boy leaned forward suddenly on his elbows over the table towards Olive and she jumped a little at the quickness of his movements.
"If you knew I wouldn't wanna, why'd you botha askin'?"

Olive smiled slightly and her fingers tingled slightly where they rested on the surface of the table only a few inches away from Enoch's arms.

"Because...it was the polite thing to do. You've been so nice to me, I thought they should at least try to include you." She bit her lip and met his blue eyes, there was a curiosity in them that she liked, replacing the cold dismissiveness that was less common around her now. "I...I thought it would be nice if you came."

Enoch's bow twitched slightly and his lips curled up into a smirk as he leant back.
"'ow the 'ell are you so nice?"

It wasn't the first time he'd said that to her, and Olive had a feeling it wouldn't be the last. She liked it when he asked her that. It meant she'd said something right that had meant something, however miniscule it may be. Hugh and Emma might be convinced that he did like her and she herself knew very well that she was at least his friend. But Enoch was so back and forth in his emotions and attitude around her that she was sure if she got her hopes up that they would be dashed the next day.

She smiled and looked down at her hands. She wasn't being subtle, just being around him when he was in a good mood sent her a flutter and she was quite sure that he knew exactly how she felt about him.
"I just am. It would be nice."

"Well...sorry, no."

xxxXxxx

The night of October 31st was filled with children in costume roaming the streets in groups or pairs trick or treating and filling pumpkin decorated bags with as many sweets as they could get. Olive was the first one to arrive at the Bloom's modest town house not long after eight to find Emma sitting cross legged on the floor of the living room counting chocolate bars with her ten-year-old sister, every bit as fair haired as Emma, dressed as Elsa complete with impressive braid.

"Mum and Dad in bed by half past, Julia."

"But if you're having people over why can't I stay up too?"

"Because Mum said so!" Emma insisted and with a grumble and a frown, the younger girl stomped off up the stairs to get changed.

"I brought-" Olive started before Emma anticipated her sentence and waved an around down the hallway.
"Snacks? Great! Just pop them in the kitchen, I won't be long!" She called over her shoulder as she darted up the stairs after her sister.

By a quarter to nine, Hugh, Fiona, Olive, Millard, Jacob and Emma were all squished into Emma's family living room. Hugh and Fiona, who by now were officially together after Hugh had finally summoned the nerve to properly ask her out, squished into a love seat while Emma, Olive and Jacob all sat together on the three-seater couch. Emma, erring on the side of Jacob rather than Olive. Millard sat on the floor with one leg stretched out in front of him.

"Come on, it's Halloween, you have to watch something at least vaguely scary..." Hugh scoffed at someone's insistence on the Nightmare Before Christmas. "That is not scary."

"It's as Halloweenish as any! It's a classic." Emma argued, defending the movie with a passion that greatly amused Olive as she hid her giggles behind her hand.

"Emma..." All heads turned to the foot of the stairs where a wide-awake Julia was standing in cloud patterned flannel pyjamas. "I can't sleep and I can't find my Goosebumps book to read."

"Why do you want to read that before bed anyway?" Emma sighed and none too subtly pushed herself up to stand using Jacob's arm as support before ushering her sister back up the stairs. "I'll be right back...don't let Hugh pick!"

"What's wrong with my choice?" Hugh huffed indignantly and Olive exchanged an amused look with Fiona.
Somewhere between the options of "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Conjuring", both avidly being debated between the three boys, with Jacob and Millard both in favour of "The Conjuring", the doorbell rang.

"It's probably just trick or treaters..." Olive looked over towards the staircase where Emma had not yet emerged from. "There's a bowl of sweets by the door, I'll...just..." She trailed off, not bothering to complete her sentence as the red head headed towards the front door. It felt wrong answering someone else's door but it was probably just a few hopeful kids waiting for chocolate. That had happened a half dozen times since she'd arrived.

The moment Olive pulled open the door, she gasped and stared wide eyed in surprise. Her green eyes widened in surprise and fuzzy feeling spread through her chest.

"Made the mistake of lettin' my parents find out."