Hi everyone! Thank you so so much for all the lovely reviews. They made me smile :)
Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Enoch woke up with a strange, sick excitement in his stomach. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and walked to Horace's door. He wasn't even sure why he wanted to see him, but he raised his fist to knock anyway- then hesitated. Enoch frowned. He tried to knock again, but found he couldn't make himself do it. It wasn't like him to get freaked out like this, but for some reason he couldn't work up the courage.
Suddenly the door handle turned and Enoch cursed, sprinting back to his room and shutting the door just as Horace stepped out onto the landing. Enoch held his breath as Horace walked past and down the stairs. Once his footsteps had receded, Enoch breathed in relief and slid down the door to the ground.
He knew he'd have to face Horace eventually, but he had no idea what he was supposed to say.
"So you know that thing that happened between us last night? Pretty weird, huh?"
Enoch shook the thought out of his head. He'd never felt so confused in his life.
He felt happy and sick and angry and embarrassed and excited and terrified.
Did he like Horace? Of course not!
…Maybe?
And did that mean Horace liked him? He thought about it, how close they'd become lately, how Horace smiled at him when he saw him, which had to be a first in Enoch's life. So… yes?
No. He thought. Stop creating something that isn't there. You're just friends.
He nodded. Okay, so just friends, that made sense. Horace wouldn't smile at him like that, or hang around him if they weren't friends right?
So maybe last night didn't mean anything at all. Maybe he was overthinking it- nothing had really happened, after all. Their faces were close together, then Miss Peregrine came in. Simple as that. They were sleep deprived and not thinking straight, and a weird moment had passed between them. Horace had probably thought nothing of it. He'd probably forgotten already.
Still, Enoch thought about how close they'd been, how Horace's hand had been intertwined with his, and he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if Miss Peregrine hadn't walked in.
You're just friends. Friends do stuff like that. You're just friends.
He repeated it to himself as he walked down the stairs to breakfast.
You're just friends. Just friends. Just friends.
He sat down at the table and ate his breakfast in silence while the peculiars chattered around him. He could sense Horace staring at him from across the table, trying to get his attention. Enoch looked up.
Just friends. Just fr- oh God.
Enoch's heart tried to jump out of his chest the second he made eye contact with Horace, and he quickly forced his eyes down to his plate before the other boy could say anything.
Okay. You can do this. Just be normal.
Enoch sneaked a glance and found that Horace was still watching him.
Crap.
He quickly looked away. The way his heart was racing was definitely not helping with his 'just friends' theory.
…
Enoch avoided eye contact with Horace for the rest of breakfast and ignored him when he offered to take Enoch's plate as they were packing up. When Horace called after him as he walked down to the basement, Enoch pretended not to hear him.
As long as Enoch didn't look at or think about Horace, he was fine. Okay, so ignore him for eternity in order to stay friends. That sounded sustainable. Not.
But it was his best option unless he wanted to admit what his racing heart and butterflies where trying to tell him.
Enoch sighed, deciding to distract himself by making a giant homunculus, and was surprised to see it actually work. Well, the distraction part, at least. The homunculus was a horror never to be spoken of.
…
After a while, Enoch got bored and cold from being in the basement, so climbed up to his room to flop onto his bed. He'd only just closed his eyes when there was a knock at his door. Enoch groaned.
"Go away." He snapped.
The person knocked again.
"I said go away!"
There was silence for a few seconds, then a sudden barrage of non-stop knocks.
"Oh for the love of God!" He groaned. "Can no one leave me in peace?"
Enoch marched over to the door and threw it open to a frowning Horace, his fist raised to knock again.
"Enoch-" He started.
"Nope." Enoch deadpanned.
Enoch tried to shut the door in his face, but Horace stuck his foot out before it could close.
"Oww..." He whimpered.
Enoch opened the door enough for Horace to gingerly pull his foot out, but then he used that as an opportunity to push himself into the room.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Enoch scowled.
"I'm coming to see if you're okay."
"I'm fine." Enoch snapped. He started shoving Horace towards the door. "Okay bye, you can leave now."
"What? No Enoch stop-" Horace shrugged him off. "Look, are…are you mad at me?"
Enoch frowned, confused.
"No. Why would you think that?"
"Because you're avoiding me."
Oh. Oops.
"I'm not." Enoch said quickly.
"You're not?
"No."
"But I called your name and-"
"I didn't hear you." Enoch said too quickly. Horace was silent for a moment, looking at him sceptically.
"Enoch, if you're mad at me, or I've done something wrong, just tell me, okay? And I'll back off."
"Oh for Bird's sake! I'm not mad at you, okay?" Enoch spat defensively.
"Well it sure feels like you are!" Horace cried.
Enoch blinked in surprise, then scowled.
"That's it, now you're definitely leaving." He growled. Horace looked hurt.
"Enoch-"
"No." Enoch said flatly, steering him towards the door.
"Enoch!"
"No. Now get out."
"Would you just stop!" Horace cried. Enoch let him go, turning away with his arms crossed. There was a long silence. Neither of them moved. Eventually Horace sighed.
"I'll just go…" He muttered, but as he turned Enoch found himself grabbing his wrist.
"No don't go." He said quickly. "Look…I'm not mad at you, okay? Seriously, it's not you."
I just think you're irrationally cute and that's weird.
Enoch let him go, expecting him to walk out anyway, but to his surprise, Horace just let out a relieved laugh.
"Thank the Bird." He sighed. "I was worried that this was about… you know about last night and I don't know, that I'd freaked you out or something and-" He was talking fast and nervous, stumbling over words and fumbling with his tie worriedly, but Enoch had stopped listening at 'last night.'
Horace had acknowledged it. So it wasn't just him. But they were just friends right? They had to be.
Enoch was vaguely aware of Horace still rambling.
"A-and I know it sounds stupid but what I'm trying to say is…" Horace's voice suddenly faded out as he glanced down and realised his tie was completely tangled. "Oh."
Enoch couldn't help but laugh. Horace was even more uncomfortable than he was.
"God, you're an idiot." He grinned, walking over to Horace and starting to fix his tie for him. Horace grinned sheepishly.
"Honestly you're probably better off leaving it." He rolled his eyes, gesturing down at the wrinkled, grass-stained white dress shirt he was wearing. "Yesterday's football has completely destroyed the rest of my clothes anyway."
Enoch glanced at him.
"You look fine."
You look better than fine.
Horace blushed a little and jabbed him in the side.
"Maybe by your standards."
"Hey! I have plenty of fashion sense, thank you very much."
Horace raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down.
"Oh I don't doubt it- I've heard the homeless love to get clothing inspiration from you."
Enoch snorted, shoving him.
"You swine!" He grinned. "I've fixed your tie for you, so you're welcome."
"Thank you." Horace rolled his eyes, glancing down to assess the damage. "It's far too short by the way. I give you a five out of ten."
"Oh come on, that's at least a seven." Enoch said, stepping towards him.
"Six then. A compromise." Horace grinned, closing the distance. Enoch was suddenly conscious of how close they were, and he looked away, face hot.
When Enoch risked a glance back, he realised that Horace was staring at him with a small smile on his face. He noticed Horace's eyes flick quickly to the lower half of his face, then back up to his eyes.
"God you're gorgeous." Horace suddenly mumbled.
Enoch made a choking sound in his throat, going red.
"Wha-What?"
Horace's eyes widened as he realised himself and he clapped his hands over his mouth.
"Nothing!" He said quickly.
"No, I heard you. You said-"
"No I didn't!" He cried. "You must have imagined it!"
"Horace-"
"Bye!" Horace hurried out of the room, face bright red. Enoch just stood in stunned silence, his mind reeling.
Then a small smile spread across his face.