He'd done it. He had actually gone ahead and done it and here she had thought he really wouldn't after all.

The same could have been said of both young men in that situation and while Olive was definitely more upset with Nathan who had not only stopped bothering to hide his motives that Enoch was, again unbelievably, right about, but had just insulted Enoch; she certainly wasn't happy with her boyfriend. He had told her he wouldn't and there was a fine line between being justifiably angry and overreacting and Enoch had crossed that.
"Enoch!"

"You 'eard 'im! Ah..."

He backed off shaking his hand while Nathan clutched at his jaw and swore all manner of profanities Olive had never heard from him before. Enoch looked at her with his eyebrows raised and his scowl momentarily vanished. She must have looked more annoyed than she thought she did, he was never so surprised to look at her. She shook her head and held his eyes for a moment, hoping to see some ounce of regret or at least realisation there but his face held none of that.

"Enoch..." Olive repeated quietly and picked up her laptop bag and the last box she had to carry outside. She brushed past him, barely touching the sleeve of his jacket and towards the front door without another word.

Olive wasn't often annoyed, least of all angry, and not usually with Enoch. Exasperated? Sure, especially when it had to do with Nathan and what she had seen as an unnecessarily and completely wrong impression. Now she knew Enoch had been right not to like him, and right, more or less, in what he thought was going on but that didn't change that he'd crossed a line now whether he said it was for her sake or not.

Neither of them said anything for the first ten minutes they were in the car and Olive determinedly kept her eyes fixed straight ahead. Enoch kept looking at her every few minutes, she could see his head turn ever so slightly out of the corner of her eye. No. She wasn't going to speak first, he could get the point that she was upset with him all by himself. Amazingly, a few minutes later; socially awkward and disinterested Enoch broke the tense silence himself.

"I fought ya wanted lunch."

"I am not done being angry with you, Enoch O'Connor, don't even try." Olive retorted immediately.

"Tryin' what? Why are ya mad at me?"

Olive couldn't help it, she turned and looked at him finally. Why was she mad at him? Really? She just stared in disbelief at his profile for a few seconds. "Are you serious?"

"Little bit, yeah. Ya should be on my side."

"There's no side to be on, Enoch. Honestly?"

"Then why are ya defendin' 'im? 'e deserved that-"

"I am so not defending him, I just can't believe you did that!"

"Did you not 'ear 'im? 'e 'ad it comin' all year."

"Yes I heard him, Enoch, of course I'm disgusted at him. He was my friend, but you told me that you wouldn't go overboard like that. That was too far."

"You're not gonna say ya want 'im livin' there again when ya go back are ya?"

Olive pursed her lips, unsure whether to cry or glare at him. "No. After what he said I will most certainly not be rooming with him but that does not make it okay for you to take it upon yourself to teach him a lesson." She shook her head and turned her green eyes to stare out of the passenger window again, "You told me, Enoch, that you weren't going to do that for my sake and you did it anyway. Can you really not see why I'm upset with you?"

An uncomfortable silence fell between them in which all Olive saw of Enoch was his profiled reflection over her shoulder in the glass of the window. He wasn't bothering to glance at her anymore but she could see him flexing the bruised knuckles of his right hand. Surely he should have been able to see it on his own that it upset her. Enoch could be selfish, but he could also be incredibly selfless when it came to it. Apparently today was not one of those days.

"I was tryin'a do it for you, ya know."

Olive shook her head and turned wide, slightly damp eyes to him. "No, you weren't entirely. You know that. Please don't be like this. I don't want to argue."

She watched Enoch's hand fall frustrated to the gear stick between them and again the tense uncomfortable silence that followed a bickering couple descended back on the car like an elephant in the confined space.

She hated it when they argued. Maybe that was a stupid thing to think about, after all, whoever liked arguing with someone they loved? But anything more than a domestic little disagreement over movies or food, and there was bound to be a few of those when they were as different to each other as she and Enoch were, made her want to cry.
She wasn't being unreasonably upset was she? It had been a trying week, or indeed a trying month, for both of them and Olive was desperate to be home finally with her family and her friends. She was a sensitive soul at the best of times. Of course she knew why Enoch did what he did, and to a greater extent than probably anyone else, she understood it.
Olive was freely giving with her emotions and usually she showed what she felt. Enoch might make no secret about the fact he didn't like something but as much as he did that, he also supressed as much as he could until it bubbled up and exploded like a geyser. It wasn't an excuse to lash out, and she didn't think it should be, but she understood it. If he even acknowledged it, that would be something.

The idea of lunch was well and truly off the table, Olive wasn't even sure she would have been hungry for it, and for the greater part of half an hour they didn't speak. There wasn't a sound save for the occasional clink of Enoch's car and the low volume of the radio when Enoch eventually switched it on. If it was a contest of who could go the longest without speaking, no one would ever hold a candle to Enoch. Olive was sure if he set his mind to it he could probably comfortably go at least a full week without a word to anybody. She had no such hope but the tension was getting unbearable already.

"Sorry."

The word was said so quickly and so suddenly that Olive wasn't completely sure she'd heard it at all and only imagined it. Enoch did not apologise often and he was almost never the first one to do so. Olive forgot to be angry she was so shocked staring at him.
"What?"

"Don't make me say it again. 'm sorry."

He had definitely said it this time. Enoch's cool eyes were fixed on the road like he was trying hard not to look at her.

"You're sorry?"

"Bloody 'ell, Olive, yeah." After a second, almost as an afterthought, Enoch added, "Not for 'ittin' im, mind. I don't regret that."

Olive sighed and closed her eyes. "That's a great apology, Enoch."

"For 'urtin' you. Let me finish, it doesn't start very often. I never mean ta 'urt ya." He was perfectly genuine, Olive always knew when he was. Enoch was either brutally honest or incredibly sarcastic, there was rarely a middle ground. He cared enough about Olive being hurt that he'd apologised of his own accord. That definitely meant something.

"I know that."

Just as she turned to give him a little smile, and show him that she wasn't as upset, Enoch's eyes met hers for a second and when he looked back at the road, there was one on his face too. That sweet little, genuine smile only she knew about.

xxxXxxx

"Oh come here, sweetheart! I'm so glad you're home, darling."

"Mum!"

With a flurry of arms and greying ginger hair, Olive was pulled into the homey, warm embrace of her mother. As soon as they'd gotten into London, she immediately felt home again. Enoch, unbidden was already taking her things out of the boot for her.

"Look at you, already finished a year, you're not my little girl anymore, what am I going to do?"

"Mum, I've just got back, I'm not going anywhere yet." Olive laughed as she stepped back and tossed her hair over her shoulder to smile at Enoch as he brought over a case.

"I'm so sorry we couldn't come and meet you ourselves, your dad was not at all happy to be on call today."

"It's alright, it's fine, I understood."

"Enoch, thank you."

Olive watched his head shoot up in surprise when her mother offered him a warm smile and she was sure that, if Enoch wouldn't have hated it, he might have even earned a hug.
"What? I didn't do nofin'."

"Thank you for going up to get Olive on such short notice, I'm so sorry we had to ask. You will let us at least pay for the petrol, won't you?"

"Uh...s'alright..."
He didn't know what to do with that, it was plain to see from the sudden blank expression on his face but Olive didn't care. As bad a start as they might have gotten off on, she couldn't be happier right now.

"Then come for dinner tonight I insist, I'm sure Olive wants to see you just as much."

"She just...saw me. No, I...shouldn'-"

"Enoch means 'thank you,'" Olive jumped in quickly. Her mother might never have been particularly disapproving and not in the least hostile towards Enoch like her father was but it was an olive branch held out for him that Olive refused to let go to waste. "And yes he will."

"Will I?"

"Yes, you will."

And despite the 'bad idea' expression her boyfriend was giving her, that was the end of that for now. Enoch had redeemed himself somewhat, at least in one parent's eyes and that was too good of an opportunity to waste. There might be hope yet, even if it was slow going.

xxxXxxx

"I told ya it was a bad idea."

"How are you ever going to change my dad's mind if you say no to every invitation? You both have to try you know."

"I just resign myself to what 'e finks'a me."

"I know, but I'm not going to, I think it needs to change, and you definitely earned points stepping up on such short notice today."

It was a day of ups and downs that was for certain. Just in the first hour she'd seen Enoch Olive had gone from being thrilled to see him to wishing it had been her parents who picked her up, to forgiving him to some extent to being thrilled with how grateful her mum was to him. So why not end the day on yet another gamble?

"He's not going to make a fuss tonight. Dad's in too good of a mood to spoil it." Olive whispered and hopped up on her toes to kiss Enoch's cheek which made him wrinkle his nose as a rare, and faint tinge of pink coloured his otherwise pale cheeks. No sooner had she stepped away to close the door behind him, then her father appeared in the doorway. The atmosphere changed in seconds as the two men automatically stared each other down.
Olive let out a breath as Enoch turned and raised a dark eyebrow at her the moment her dad stepped off the stairs and through to the dining room.
"Well...it's worth a shot. I have a good feeling about this."

"Ya 'ave a good feelin' 'bout everyfin' an' it's usually wrong in these cases."

"Well...here's to our little Olive, all finished her first year...couldn't be more proud of you."

"Dad, you're not going to do this every year, are you?" Even if it was only her parents and her boyfriend, Olive had gone red from her hair to her toes as she embarrassingly held up her glass of wine. She could feel Enoch's eyes on her and if it were just the two of them he would have had no qualms about teasing her for being embarrassed by it.

"Well we'll just have to see next year, won't we? That's if we even let you leave again in a few months."

There was a smattering of quiet giggles as Olive caught her mother's eye over her glass.
"Don't mind him."

"Oh I wasn't."

For a minute or two the only sound was the clinking of knives and forks on plates and the occasional replacement of a glass back on the wood of the table. Enoch hadn't said a word since he'd sat down, he never did though if he could avoid it, or bite his tongue. Subtly, or she thought so anyway, Olive reached over under the table and squeezed his knee reassuringly under the table. Enoch didn't as much as blink in her direction.

"How were your exams, Enoch? Anatomy, isn't it?"

Olive had to nudge him for him to realise he was being spoken which in turn almost made him splutter on the drink he'd just had.

"Uh, yeah. Fine. Pretty sure I did fine."

"What does that course lead into, lad? I don't think Olive's ever mentioned it."

For a moment Olive just looked uneasily between Enoch and her father, unsure exactly how that question was supposed to be taken.

"A...few different directions." Enoch was shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Specific. Do ya even need it for undertaking?"

"Theo."

"What? It's a valid question, I'm only asking, I wasn't sure if it was really a career that required a degree."

"My dad didn't do it, if that's what ya mean. No."

"Not that there's anything wrong with being an undertaker, right, Dad?" Olive stared at him pointedly. Enoch had always known where he was going to end up in the business, it was pretty much the point of a family business, and Olive wasn't convinced he was entirely happy about it. Every time it had come up he seemed apathetic to it, which is why she had stopped mentioning it years ago.

"Didn't say there was. I guess someone has to do it."

"Leads into fings like forensics too. It ain't just undertakin'." Enoch interjected, to everyone's surprise, and looked coolly across the table. "Biological sciences, genetics, lots of stuff ya needa go on to Diplomas and Masters but it's a bl-it's a steppin' to all those fings."
It was the most borderline civil dinner conversation they'd ever had with Enoch there, which Olive was extremely glad for, even if it could have been a bit nicer. It was also, impressively, probably the most he'd said at once.

"He loves it and that's the important thing, right?" Olive added and did a double take when Enoch turned to stare at her.

They fell into small talk about what things were like in Cambridge, which Olive carefully steered well away from her roommates, and what she had missed in London, none of which Enoch participated in and instead he lapsed into a tense, uncomfortable silence.

It wasn't until her mother brought out dessert, a rich chocolate pudding which Olive loved without fail and Enoch would probably barely eat half a serving of with his lack of much of a sweet tooth, that he really choked up.

"You know, it's been all this time, almost...three years?"
Olive couldn't help smiling and stole a glance at Enoch who hadn't even blinked while her mother spoke. "And I really think it's probably about time we actually met your parents, Enoch."

It was as the whole room suddenly dropped ten degrees in temperature for as much as Enoch froze up. At the same time he stopped moving, staring down at his bowl, Olive's head turned to him and her father's head turned to her mother.
"Really?"

"Absolutely, Theo. It's almost been three years."

"Has he really been around that long?"

"Dad!" Olive was temporarily distracted from trying to read Enoch's face and instead glared at her father. Enoch either didn't care or hadn't even noticed the remark.

"I only meant...that..." There was really no saving it and at least he seemed to know that, "Maybe your mother's right. Maybe we should know more about him."

"Him has a name, Enoch is right here and his mum and dad are perfectly lovely people but-"

"I don't fink that's a good idea." Enoch finished, hardly lifting his face from his bowl.

"And why not?"

"I just don't."

Poor Enoch wasn't even comfortable in his own family, as much as Olive wished he could be, and she had no doubt how much his mother hoped the same thing. He barely handled being around his own father, and around her father separately, let alone getting them both in the same room.

At least they could bond over a mutual dislike. She could hear those words in Enoch's voice ringing in her head as clearly as if he'd actually said them.

"Oh come on, you've been a...couple..." the word was forced and practically grated out through her father's teeth, but that didn't matter so much at the moment "for long enough, why shouldn't we know your family? What's the matter?"

"Nofink." Enoch snapped and Olive saw his bruised knuckles clench under the table as he tried, to his credit, to not make a scene.

"Well then..."