He wasn't originally going to be the one to bring Olive home. But such were the winds of fate...and fire that intervened so fast that the plans had changed that morning. He wasn't even sure Olive knew he was going to be the one to meet her. So it was a good thing there had been an error in the schedule and his last exam had been yesterday instead of today.

For once, Enoch hadn't been bothered at all by his exams. In fact, he was sure he'd passed them all with ease and a confidence he only ever approached schoolwork with when it was scientifically related. The whole year he had actually cared about what he was doing, which wasn't something he'd ever been familiar with in school at all. Maybe a large part of it was because uni gave him an escape from the home he was so thoroughly unhappy in more than even Olive still knew. The first thing his father had said when Enoch had finished his first year had been, "You'd better 'ave passed.", in so few words. That was exactly why he didn't talk about school, or anything. There was little doubt in his mind that the only part of Enoch's life that his father bothered approving of was the fact that he had a girlfriend. The critical comments were more tolerable than the awkward conversations had been as a teenager. There was no putting his family back together as much as his parents might pretend there was, it hadn't happened in over a decade and it wasn't likely to for Enoch. No. He'd rather make his own life entirely separate.

He let one hand drift off the steering wheel as he pulled up outside Olive's flat.
A whole year already.

To his bitter disappointment it was the last person Enoch wanted to see in the world who answered the door.

"Oh...you're not who she was expecting."

"Do ya speak for 'er now, 'uh?" Enoch glowered and shouldered his way past the blonde boy he liked less and less every time. Did she keep the same flat and the same roommates for the entirety of her course because he was pretty sure he'd go mad with jealousy if that was the case. "Olive!"

There was a patter of footsteps down the hall and Olive appeared in jeans and the striped top she wore so often and stared at him in surprise.
"What on earth are you doing here? Mum and Dad were-"

"They were, yeah." Enoch interrupted, completely disregarding Nathan's existence as he wandered over to her. "Ya dad got called ta a fire, and ya mum's car is the shop 'pparently so 'ere I am-yeah... 'i ta you too..." He trailed off as his hands flew up to her shoulders when Olive was suddenly hugging him.

"No I'm glad you're here, Enoch. I missed you."

Her slender fingers found his and started to lace through then and automatically Enoch became much more awkward. Nathan coughed behind his back and Enoch turned to scowl at him. "Pi-"

"Okay, let's not do this now." Olive quickly interrupted and in the second that he had to look back at her before she turned around, Enoch was sure he saw something like anxiety flicker there before she had turned around.

In the relative privacy of her temporarily packed up bedroom, Enoch let himself relax a little bit and kiss her hello. It had been almost six weeks since the last time they'd seen each other, the end of the year much too busy for both of them for Enoch to find time to spare a weekend and drive over. He didn't say it aloud, much like when she left, but he would be glad to have Olive close by again for the next two months.

"How did you go yesterday?" Olive's hands ran down his jacket, fixing the folded up collar when he was the first one to back away. His hands still holding her hips and one thumb brushing bare skin where her shirt had risen up a centimetre.

"Exam? Easy. Pretty smooth I fink. I got the scores ta pass wivout the exam even included but..."

"Because you're brilliant-"

"Nah."

"-at what you do." Olive added immediately and Enoch tilted his head slightly in a 'fair enough' sort of way.

"We got ages ta talk 'bout that. We could just get goin'?"

"You just drove a few hours and you want to walk right back out again?" Olive let him go and stepped away with a perfectly arched ginger eyebrow and his eyes followed her to her mostly empty desk as she packed her laptop away. "We could always have lunch or something first before we drive back?"

"Why is 'e still 'ere?"

He hadn't exactly meant for it to just slip out, although he'd been thinking it since it was Nathan who answered the door. So he wasn't surprised when Olive looked suddenly exasperated again.
"Really? Althea went home yesterday, I'm going today and Nathan isn't going until Tuesday, what's the matter with that?...and I meant you and me lunch, not-"

"I know, I know what ya meant. Just want 'im outta the bloomin' picture sooner the better."

"Nathan was never in the picture but..."

And there it was again, the flicker in Olive's eyes of something she wasn't telling him and now the little paranoid part of his mind was on red alert that it was something to do with little blonde pompous prats.

"But what?"

Olive sighed and Enoch clenched his jaw tightly. When she seemed intent on weighing up telling him or not, he scoffed and ground out "What did 'e do?"

"Enoch, please stop assuming that..."

His eyes followed her as she stepped around him and pushed the door closed for a little more privacy. "I wasn't going to say anything until we were in the car, but I was going to tell you, I promise-"

"Why? What did 'e do?" Enoch repeated.

"Nothing, before you go mad and murderous." Then she was stepped around her cases and taking his hands in hers and Enoch barely bothered to glance his attention was entirely transfixed on what Olive might be about to say. "You were just right, okay? At least...half way. Please don't freak out."

"About... 'im?"

"Yes."

"That 'e..."

"Might have the tiniest crush on me...I really, really hate saying that, Enoch-"

"I bloody knew it. I told ya." Olive closed her eyes but Enoch didn't care as he dropped his hands away from her and his expression soured even more. " 'ow d'ya even know if ya were so sure I was bein' irrational?"

"He...might have let it slip."

"When was this?!"

"Maybe six weeks ago?"

Enoch just fixed her with a look equal parts disbelief and annoyance. Six weeks? And it hadn't ever come up in conversation that she felt she should tell him?
There was never doubt in his mind that Olive loved him, she was the purest representative of the word "good" that he'd ever met, he'd be an idiot to mistrust her. No, his mistrust lay with the people who might want to take her away from him, and that was where his anger was being directed at right now. But he was extremely annoyed that his own girlfriend hadn't told him before.

"Ya didn't fink I needed ta know that?"

"Enoch, we've barely spoken in a month, you had your own problems to deal with on top of exam-"

"What's that mean? I've dealt with those forever, I don't really care."

"I didn't think I needed to tell you right away, he wasn't ever going to try anything and the year was almost over-"

"It bloody well might not be 'armless. Yeh've lived wiv this guy for most of a year, 'oo's ta say 'ow long he fancied ya?"

"Enoch, don't yell at me, I didn't think it should be a problem if he was never going to do anything about it!" The second the red head raised her voice, Enoch was suddenly taken aback. "And even if he did he'd be right back in his box before he could finish the sentence, you know that. I know you're angry, and I know you're jealous but don't take it out on me!"

An uneasy silence fell between them as Enoch just stared at her. He almost forgot to be angry he was so surprised to see her flaring up with her hands on her hips. Save for the tears in her eyes, it might have been fairly intimidating for such a small, dainty person.

"You're kinda right." He admitted after a long few moments during which the distance between them only seemed to grow, "I should be takin' it out on 'im..." And with that he turned on his heel and would have strolled right out to shout at Nathan instead if Olive hadn't suddenly darted in between him and the door. "Ya kiddin' right? What are ya doin'?"

"Enoch, don't. That's exactly why I wasn't going to tell you until later, when you couldn't go all protective bear and tear anyone to shreds."

He wanted to say that's exactly what he longed to do. That he should be making sure no posh git was going to try and make a move on someone else's girlfriend. That he finally had a decent reason to be mad as hell at this guy. He wanted to tell Olive to move so that he could finally get what he wanted, Nathan Sands out of her life.
But that would have been undeniably nasty and he couldn't.

Olive was looking up at him with nothing short of pleading and concern in such a way that Enoch for once saw how mean it would have been to practically order her out of the way. He never cared when it was anyone else, never bothered to mind any consequences that his being mean might have had. He couldn't order her around, he didn't own his girlfriend, he was lucky to have her. Even if he thought his motives for wanting to confront this guy were pretty damn good, he cared about Olive a lot more.

"Fine." He relented and stepped back, though his expression did little to soften until Olive dropped her outstretched arm and closed the distance between them. "But only for your sake."

"That's all I'm asking, Enoch... I'm coming home now anyway, you don't even have to think it and I really wish you wouldn't."

It didn't mean he wasn't going to hate this guy to no end. Enoch said nothing, instead he just bent down to pick up one of her cases and left the room, a wordless expression that he at least wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"You guys want a hand?"

Enoch stopped on the spot halfway towards the front door and turned slowly to glare at Nathan with all the burning ferocity he had bottled up.
"I've got it." He snapped, making it perfectly clear that the offer was not welcome. "Fink I don't know what ya doin?"

"Honestly have no idea what you mean, mate."

"Don't you bloody dare, I ain't ya mate." His whole hand was shaking and his knuckles going white they were clenched so tightly around the handle of Olive's suitcase. "And ya better not be livin' 'ere wiv 'er after the 'olidays."

"Blimey you're the most jealous boyfriend I've ever met. I've not ever once made a move on Olive."

"I 'ave a damn good reason and ya know it, ya little git."

He'd told Olive he wouldn't, and that thought nagged at the back of Enoch's mind as he stared Nathan down like he was forcing himself not to hit the guy. "I ain't an idiot-"

"Could have fooled me." The retort was muttered off to the side like Nathan really hadn't meant to be so loud but Enoch heard it anyway.

"Ya tryin' ta make yaself the better option, so show ya true colours already 'cause I'm bloody sick of it."

"Well...I mean I am a nice person so...there's that in my favour. Yeah, fine, to be honest I do think Olive can do a lot better than a grumpy, clearly troubled soul with an anger problem who only speaks sarcasm."

"Excuse me?"

Enoch had barely opened his mouth and lowered her case to the floor when Olive's voice spoke first instead. He turned and Nathan's eyes drifted over his shoulder and there she was, staring at the blonde like he'd just sprouted a second head. "Nathan!"

There. It took this for it to happen but now Olive had seen exactly what Enoch had thought the first time he'd met the guy, actually...the first time he'd heard she would be rooming with a guy but that was beside the point.

"Come on, Olive...you can't be serious with what you see in this guy?" Just like that all pretence was gone and it was like a kettle on the stove just about to overboil and scream.

"I'm extremely serious, how do you think it's okay to say that?"

"Well clearly being passive about it was doing nothi-"

"An' I'm the gi'?" Enoch snapped and he'd had enough, whatever he'd promise Olive was forgotten in the moment. He was hot headed, there was no denying and like that kettle on the stove, he had just reached boiling point. He could actually hear his own accent getting thicker and less pronounced the angrier he was. "Don' ya ever go near 'er again."
Then it was too late to stop himself, promise or no promise, because in a matter of three seconds Enoch had crossed the floor and punched him square in the jaw.