Just Curious

"Some advice for you though, man to man. If you're thinking of staying just because you like Emma, don't bother." Enoch says, glancing up at Jake between threadings of his doll.

He pretends not to care, not to get lost in the swirling blue eyes, the new discoveries awaiting him. Jake looks honestly confused, which could be a front, because of course Emma's hot, but Enoch secretly hopes it's because he's genuinely not interested. Enoch's not particularly good at hiding his jealously, but he's bloody fantastic at covering it with bitterness over this and that instead of, well, lust.

"You see," he continues, "she swore of romance decades ago, when she got her heart broken, and she's never gonna change her mind."

Enoch hits himself mentally in the head. That was a terrible thing to say. If Jake wasn't already interested, the challenge of winning Emma's heart again would certainly entice him. He was trying to be menacing, not a fucking mentor leading Jake in the "right" direction.

He sighs and pulls out a heart from his desk drawer, Olive clenches her fists in excitement, fueling Enoch's ego once again. Jake's icy irises are full of curiosity as Enoch gets his puppets in fighting position. He looks up at Jake before commanding them to fuck each other up, just to memorize that expression on his face.

The next morning, well, the same morning, technically, Enoch is pouring coffee, black, because everyone else likes fucking tea like a bunch of fucking Brits who have never heard of creme when Jake walks into the kitchen, his hair slightly messy, wearing robes that Enoch recognizes to be some of his grandfather's. The American boy looks... delectable. Enoch almost chokes on his coffee.

"Can I have a cup?" Jake asks, his eyes roaming from Enoch's mug to the pot on the counter.

"I'm not going to stop you," replies Enoch, glancing at Jake's ass when he passes him. Keep it together, O'Connor.

"I thought all anyone drank around here was tea." Jake comments, taking a sip.

Jake's face sours up at the bitter taste.

"I need something stronger. Resetting the loop every night is exhausting. No one seems to get it." Enoch replies, leaning against the table to make himself cool and casual.

He almost falls backward because he missed the correct space between him and the surface, but Jake doesn't say anything. He swears he saw a smile tug at the corners of Jake's mouth from behind the mug, though.

The boys sip their coffee in silence, until Jake sets his down and wipes his mouth on his bare arm.

"So you can, uh, bring back the dead, huh?" Jake says, looking over to where Enoch is taking his time with his java.

"Yeah, you could say that." This must be what businessmen feel like talking at the office. God.

"Listen, I know, you're, um, bothered by me being here. I get it. You and Emma have something going on and you think I'm gonna fuck it up." Jacob says out of the blue, making Enoch cough when the coffee goes down the wrong pipe.

"You think there's something going on with me and Emma? I was talking about Abe!" Enoch defends, unsure why, because he was ruining his only cover in this situation where he's, y'know, gay for an American prick from the future.

"Sorry, man, I just thought. Guess it's you and Olive then?" Jake grins, trying to relieve some of the tension he created in the small kitchen space.

"It's me and nobody as a matter of fact, so leave your fucking nose out of it unless you want to fucking date me, yeah?" Enoch spits. He hopes the rage and Scottish accent alleviates the fact that he basically outed himself.

Jake opens his mouth to reply but is cut off by Olive, who walks through the thick air of the kitchen, slicing it in half.

"Morning, boys." she smiles and pours herself a cup of tea from the kettle on the stove. Enoch's heart races a thousand miles a minute as his eyes glance back up at Jake from behind Olive's back, only to find him staring right back.

"I'm going upstairs." Enoch says briefly, setting down his mug and walking out of the kitchen before either of the others can protest.

Enoch keeps the knob turned as he closes the door to make the least amount of noise possible. He pulls off his outer shirt and tosses it on the floor, flopping onto his bed, face down. He screams into the mattress. His brain feels like it's going to explode. Everything is terrible, he wants to rip his heart out and replace it with a pig's, he wants to rip Jake's heart out, he wants to be able to pretend that he's not a fucking weirdo on two fronts, he wants--

There's a knock at the door. Enoch pulls himself up from his stomach and wipes his eyes. The door creaks open before he can even give permission, which sparks his anger again, until he sees a pair of blue eyes look through the crack and calms down almost suddenly.

What the fuck?

Enoch should be steaming, eye-bulging mad, that fucking Jacob Portman knows, he should want to murder him, but he doesn't. He just sits there on his bed, silent, letting Jake seep further and further into the room.

"Hi," Jake says once he's mostly in the room. Enoch doesn't make eye contact.

"I didn't mean to pry, you know, I was just curious." Jake continues.

"Why?"

"Well, um," Jake walks to the bed and sits beside Enoch.

Enoch is afraid of how still he is. How is he letting McFuckFace Portman sit so close to him, and lean into him, and holy shit.

Jake's mouth is on Enoch's.

He's kissing him.

Jake lets go of the kiss once he's given enough time for Enoch to kiss back and he hasn't. Enoch is frozen. He doesn't know what to say.

"Sure. Um, I'll date you, if you want." Jake says, his voice soft and unsure.

Enoch finally looks Jake in the eyes. His breathing is quick.

"You're--?"

"Gay, yeah. It's more normal when I'm from." Jake smiles.

Enoch places a hand on Jake's cheek and rubs the bone there with his thumb. A force unknown to him gave him the confidence to do that. Enoch leans in again and meets Jake halfway in another kiss, a real one, where both of their eyes are closed and time has stopped.

One kiss turns into another, and another, and soon the two boys meld into one.