Three Perculiars Sitting in a Tree

Chapter 1

People say that change is natural, like the movement of the Earth or the flow of the ocean. Some say that love is not something you get to choose. But I wished that I could. Because having the love of 2 boys is awfully hard. At first, having Enoch and Abe vy for my attention was amusing. But after the first fight, I had enough. I ignored the two boys for a week after the fight. But Abe stirred my heart to earn my forgiveness for both boys.

But before Abe left for war, he took with him my love and my first kiss. My only contact with him from then on was with letters, postcards, and the occasional phone call. It was often that he would save extra coin just to talk to me a little while longer, the cause of a constant blush. Then Abe grew up. He married a pretty woman and had a baby. I sent letters but I never got any back. The night I got that final letter broke my heart.

It was from Abe, telling me that I was never to write again and that I was never to even contact again. That was Abe from the current time. But I lived in a fantasy, where the Abe of world war 2 still wished for me. But the lie soon faded and I refused to talk to Abe every time he asked for me. Days were spent in my quarters. Days faded into months then years, until finally, Enoch returned me to a comfortable place.

Then it came crashing down. I was reading in the study when it happened. "(y/n). Could you get the door please?" Ms. Peregrine asks me and I nod, placing my bookmark on the page. I place down the book and lifted myself from my chair. As I move to the door, I fix my gloves that cover my hands to allow my peculiarity to maintain Ms. Peregrine's peculiarity. I open the door wide to be met with Olive, Millard, Emma, and...

My hands fly to cover my mouth as tears flood into my eyes. "Abe?" I gasp as Ms. Peregrine's familiar footsteps rang through the hallway. Carefully, tentatively, my right-hand reaches out and touches the boy's cheek. He was so similar to Abe that it was almost uncanny. My glove touches his cheek and I gasp, pulling away quickly. Ms. Peregrine shoos me off to make a start on tea as tears start to streak down my face.

"Right on time." She tells the quartet as I pull out my handkerchief to wipe my eyes. I set the kettle on the stove after filling it and adding tea. Soon, Olive entered to boil it. "I hope we won't be getting the pub landlord at our door again Oli. Might have to shoot him if I can't talk my way out of it." I joke and she giggles a little with me. Soon, Ms. Peregrine entered with the Abe look-a-like and I ducked my head.

I couldn't look at him. My mind would wander to what once was and it would be bad for my mental health. I had gotten out of that pit once. I looked up to see Enoch gathering his jars. "Let me help you with those, Enoch." I offered and he glared at me and then at the Abe doppelganger. His ever-smooth accent drew me closer. "Don't bother. Wouldn't want to interrupt your tea party." He grunts and even my pleading eyes couldn't get me away from him.

So, I simply avoided eye contact with the boy. "(y/n), you're being rude. Say hello to Jake." Ms. Peregrine tells me and I shake my head. "I can't." I gasp as tears began to flood my eyes again. I drop into one of the chairs at the wooden table as I buried my face into my arms. "I can't stand to look at him because it will just remind me of my old love who is now dead." I sob before standing and running out of the room.

Soon, I find myself in front of Enoch's door, banging on it loudly. "Let me in Enoch!" I gasp, not enough breath to fill my lungs. "No! Go spend your time with that boy Emma brought back!" He shouts in his accent as I slide down to kneel in front of the door. I couldn't...breathe. "Enoch." I gasp out as I hit the ground. I hear 3 clicks before he tears open the door. "What?" He growls before seeing me.

I press a hand to my chest and gasp for breath I do not have. In an instant, I am safe. Wrapped in a blanket made of Enoch's arms and the familiar smell of Enoch's room. Death and tea. For a while, Enoch just sat with me, held me in his arms as though I was the most delicate thing, until I dozed off, exhausted and emotionally drained. But still, Enoch held me. I think at some point, Oli came in to help with Enoch's work.