Pigment (Millard Nullings X Reader)

The Walls Have Ears

(R/S) -- Random Snack

I never really realized how nice is was outside, until I went out for the first time in fourteen days. Emma was celebrating the occasion by bringing the gramophone outside, and playing the same music on a continuous loop. She made me dress up alongside her, with sunglasses, large hats, and summer dresses. I sat against a tree in the garden out back, reading Lord of the Rings quietly to myself. The kids were playing Hide and Seek, and Fiona was trying to reshape the garden hedges.

"What part are you at?" I heard a familiar voice ask me.

I looked up to see Heather, still pale and still very, very tired like the last time I saw her. She smiled at me warily, and her long, blonde hair hung in front of her shoulders. Heather was holding A Study in Scarlet to her chest.

"Gandalf just went to Frodo about the ring," I responded quietly.

Silence.

"May I sit down?" Heather asked.

I scooted over, then patted at the ground. She plopped down, and it was the first time I noticed what she was wearing. There was this saying we had, that went along the lines of, You Can Tell A Woman's Mood By Her Apparel. It wasn't true, of course, unless you were Heather. For her, what she wore always mattered, because it showed her personality, and she felt more comfort in short skirts than work pants.

"You're wearing a hoodie and jeans," I pointed out. "Who are you, and what have you done to my cousin?"

Heather chuckled a bit, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Look, I am so, so sorry about all that crap I told you. I was angry, and scared that you would think less of me because of the night before that, and-" Heather sighed. "I know you hate apologies, but I felt like I needed to say it."

I closed my book, and looked her in the eye.

"If I except your apology," I started. "Will you put on something decent?"

Heather smiled at me, and her dimples showed.

"If that's what it takes," she laughed. Heather laid her head on my shoulder. "I'm so glad you're not pissed at me.

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh no, I'm still absolutely furious at you, but I need someone to talk to about something."

Heather sat up, and looked at me curiously. "Well, what is it?"

The bad thing about living with a bunch of ageless children is that they get antsy. They crave new gossip, and one just can't expect to tell someone a secret, and assume no one will hear.

Hell, one of the peculiars was bloody invisible, for Bird's sake.

So I cupped my hand around her ear, and whispered the one thing that has been on my mind for days. Now only the two of us knew, and even if they wrote my story down on some futuristic device for people to read, the audience would never know the secret, either.

"Oh," Heather said, shortly after. "Millard?"

I put a finger to my lips to quiet her, but nodded.

"Tell anyone and I'll kill you."

Heather chuckled. "I'm quite aware."

* * *

I was sitting down to eat lunch, and frowned at the fact that Emma didn't arrive. Normally she would come sit with me, but today she was gone. Perhaps she was still outside, enjoying the weather. So I sat by myself in the dining room, snacking on (R/S). Enoch walked into the room, with a plate of food in hand. I tried not to make any eye contact at all, but he still grunted at me, and sat by my side.

"I'm so bloody glad we're allowed to go outside, now," Enoch said out loud.

I assumed he was talking to me, since I was the only person inside the house, and because he sat right next to me.

"Why?" I asked. "It's not like you go outside."

Enoch pointed at me with his fork, and gave me a grin, saying, "Exactly! My fourteen-day headache has finally disappeared!"

He stabbed his fork into his food, and began to eat. I tried to ignore him, and finished my (R/S). The dining room looked straight out into the hall, where I put my focus on, so Enoch might stop talking to me. It's not like he was a bad person, or anything, but I still had felt bad for reading through his journal. There was a number of journal entries I read through, most of them I tried not to read to Olive. It was like being in his head for a bit, and I absolutely hated it.

"I still can't believe you didn't just turn yourself in, and stop our suffering, though," Enoch said after a bit. "Everyone knows that the reason we got in trouble, was because you and Millard were found snogging by the headmistress after one of your 'study lessons'."

I may have turned completely red, and I dropped my snack. What on Earth would have made him- or anyone else- think that's why we were in trouble? First off, Millard and I have never been more than a good foot away, and even if we were closer than we already were (I tried not to imagine the scenario) it was no one's business to learn about it. Not to mention that Hugh and Fiona are found all the time by me and Emma, whenever we would walk around, and they were absolutely sloppy about hiding their relationship. They were always holding hands wherever they went, and were never a room away, unless it was night time.

I explained all of this to Enoch, although most of it came out too fast, making me trip over my own words. My accuser didn't even seem to care, and was smirking at my attempt to redeem my dignity. (Or, at least, what I had left of it.)

"Plus, why would she even get mad at us, when Fiona and Hugh snog in public? And who's telling you this? Does everyone really think this is why we were under lock down?"

I just kept frantically asking questions, not even waiting for a response.

"Woah, slow down there," Enoch said, holding his hand out, as if to stop me from talking. "If you want bloody answers, you have to actually let me answer."

I shut up.

"Okay, so a rumor started that Miss Peregrine found you two snogging in her classroom, after she allowed you two to use it for studying," Enoch began.

I snorted, and rolled my eyes. "Well that's dumb, because we're always studying up in Millard's room. Not to mention we lock the door, so no one can get in."

Enoch gave me a funny look, and said, "Yeah, and how does that help your case? Anyways, I don't know who started the rumor, but it has been going around for a bit. They say The Bird got mad, because she trusted you two to be mature about being in a room alone, and thought that if she locked everyone in the house, you two would never be alone again."

"And do you believe it?" I asked cautiously.

"No, because I know that Heather and Victor got drunk, while you three were going into town for a bit, and you and Millard were only there to help them not get caught. Not to mention that Millard's so damn flustered all the time by you, that he'd rather die than tell you how he feels," he said smugly. "You do know the walls have ears here, right?"

I just waved him off, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I know." But then I paused. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, it would be cruel to leave you in the dark," Enoch said quietly to himself. "And I know how it feels."

It was quiet again, and Enoch went back to eating. Everything he had told me was slowly absorbing, and a pit was starting to grow in my stomach. I stood up, and grabbed the remains of my food.

"Olive stole your diary last week," I told him.

"Yeah, I know," Enoch said. "And I know you didn't read everything, especially to her."

"Okay, cool," I said, obviously not knowing what to do next. "If you ever need anything, Enoch, you know that you can come talk to me about anything, right?"

"Yeah, sure," he said, obviously agitated. "Can I go back to eating, now?"

I nodded, and walked back to the kitchen, to throw away my food. What an odd fellow, Enoch was. At least he was honest.