"Pardon?"
"I said you owe me ten pounds!" Emma stared at him in disbelief with wide eyes and a small smirk lifting onto her face.
"There is no way in hell," she exclaimed before jumping up from her desk and walking up to him. Millard nodded, his cap bobbing in the air. Emma shook her head and reached into the pocket of her dress and counted out his pay, shoving it in his hand while still shaking her head. Millard had always knew there was something going on between the tow; only he noticed the small smiles they gave each other or the way they would sneak glances at one another. It was pretty obvious to him. But to the other children, not so much.
"Right now. In the basement. Kissing," he said hastily. Emma's already wide eyes looked as if they were ready to pop out at any moment. Her hand practically flew to her mouth. Millard's smile grew as he turned around and opened the door, but Emma's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Where are you going?" She inquired with her eyebrows raised. Millard rolled his eyes but sighed and looked at her.
"Well nowhere now," he said. Emma mirrored his expression.
"Seriously," she asked.
"I was gonna tell Hugh," Millard admitted with a smirk. He went to walk back out of the room but Emma scoffed and grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her. Her eyes were still the size of saucers.
"You can't tell anyone! Horace and Enoch wouldn't want that," she pleaded, imagining Horace freaking out and Enoch tackling Millard to the floor. As much as it would probably entertain the other children, she would feel terrible. Besides, when they wanted to
tell the others, they would, right?
Millard smirked and shrugged her hand off of his shoulder before sighing dramatically.
"Fine," he whined. She stared at him skeptically, knowing he was contemplating telling Hugh. They looked at each other with their eyebrows raised before Millard took off out the door, slamming it behind it. He couldn't stop himself from snickering as he ran to Hugh's room.
But Hugh wasn't in his room. And he certainly didn't need Millard to tell him about Enoch and Horace.
"Do you think he actually liked it?" Fiona asked while twirling her finger around the stem of a daisy. Hugh put her arm around her with his other hand in his pocket and smiled.
"Of course he did." The soft rustle of wind against trees soothed their ears as they walked around the courtyard. She smiled thankfully up at him with her big soft eyes before Hugh gently kissed her on her forehead, making her giggle. Fiona had spent hours looking up different types of flowers just to find the perfect one that she knew Enoch would love. He never came off as a flower-lover type of guy, but Fiona thought it would be more meaningful than any of the past gifts she had gotten him. She never thought she was very good at gift-giving, but little did she know, all of the children loved anything she gave them. Hugh simply admired how much she cared for all of the others.
"We should head back, I expect Miss Peregrine would like us to help with lunch," he told her. Fiona nodded sadly, wishing the moment could carry on. She loved being able to spend time with her boyfriend like this, but he was right. Fiona sighed and turned around, her hand still in Hugh's. He hummed to himself with a slight smile plastered on his face, just enjoying Fiona's pre-
"No, I loved it, Horace," Enoch's cockney accent rang from behind a nearby hedge. The two stopped in their tracks and looked at one another with their eyebrows raised. What would Horace and Enoch be doing alone in the courtyard? Fiona put her finger up to her mouth as if sayin, "hush," with a smirk. What must she be smirking about?
"Good, you deserved it." Horace appeared from around the bush, looking in the opposite direction of Hugh and Fiona. Not a second later, Enoch appeared right by him, their arms linked. Hugh was taken back, when did Enoch ever hold hands with anyone? Since when did Horace ever touch Enoch without complaining about the blood caked on his hands? What exactly was going on?
Fiona wasn't surprised at all, and her smirk only grew larger, and she let out a tiny squeal. Enoch and Horace headed towards the house side by side. It was the strangest sight. But what happened after was something Hugh never would have expected in a million years. Horace leaned over and pecked his partner on the cheek, causing a deep red blush to creep on his face. Hugh stood there with his hand loosely in Fiona's hand and his eyes ready to pop out of his head. Fiona giggled quietly not only at the couple in front of them, but at her dumfounded partner, her eyes pacing between all of them. She knew this would happen.
The two boys took a few more steps before shyly letting go of each other's hands in front of the back door. They wouldn't want anyone finding out now, would they? They stared at the grass until Enoch opened the door for Horace, who tipped his top hat slightly in appreciation. Fiona let out a tiny squeal as the two of them slipped behind the hedge, hoping Enoch wouldn't spot them eavesdropping. When both of the boys had disappeared inside of the house, Hugh turned to his girlfriend with an expression that read, "what the hell just happened?"
"You seriously didn't know? It was kind of obvious," she teased him. His eyebrows furrowed as he suddenly remembered who put the whole birthday together, how Enoch and Horace would always disappear from the house at the same time, or even the glances they gave each other that Hugh thought was just friendliness. His eyes paced back and forth from Fiona and the back door that wasn't too far from them. He had to tell Millard. Oh, how surprised he would be. He had to tell Emma and Bronwyn and Victor and-
"Hugh....what are you thinking?" Fiona asked skeptically. She would not let him tell anyone in a hundred years. Unfortunately for everyone, Hugh took one last look at her before he sprinted across the courtyard with the yelling ginger chasing after him. He almost knocked over poor little Claire while he took the steps two at a time, a smirk on his tan face. As soon as he reached the top, Millard came running up to him, smiling from ear to ear. They almost ran into each other before yelling at each other at the same time.
"You won't believe this!" "I have to tell you something!" The two stared at each other, both out of breath. Not a second later, Emma came jogging up to them and Fiona appeared beside her partner.
"Horace and Enoch are together," "Enoch and Horace were kissing!" Emma and Fiona stared at each other, shaking their heads at the two childish boys. They might not be too young, but they certainly didn't act like they weren't.
"Really?" Hugh almost shouted. Millard nodded enthusiastically before Emma hit him on the shoulder. Hugh's mind was racing; Horace and Enoch never acted or seemed more than just acquaintances, never in a million years would Hugh have thought he would experience what he just did. None of them even knew they were gay. Well, at least not him. He had so many questions; how long have they been dating? How did they even start dating? Why haven't they told any of us yet?
"Did any of you know before n-" before Hugh could finish the last of his question, a pair of footsteps pounded up the staircase. No, two sets of footsteps. All four of them stood rigid on the hardwood floor of the hallway, not daring a single word out of their mouths. Then, the two lovely people they had totally been wanting to interrupt their session appeared. Horace and Enoch stopped in their steps. Millard, Emma, Fiona, and Hugh were all huddled in the center of the hallway, blocking the door to Horace's room. And of course they notice how Hugh's voice had abruptly stopped once they approached. Enoch raised an eyebrow but didn't falter his pace and shoved past them to get to the door. Horace followed like a loyal puppy would to its master. He tipped his hat as he passed them, trying to act normal yet wondering what the hell they had been talking about that was so secretive that him and Enoch couldn't hear.
Millard looked around at the rest of them with wide eyes and cleared his throat after adjusting his bowtie.
"Well, I'm just gonna...." he trailed off and awkwardly began to walk down the hall towards his room. Hugh nodded and swayed on his feet.
"Yeah, Fi and I were going to..." he too trailed off and grabbed Fiona's hand and back down to the courtyard. Emma sighed and shook her head. Imbeciles.
Back in Horace's room, Enoch sat perched upon his desk, despite Horace's plead not to, and was ripping open a package of licorice. He tossed one to Horace, who was looking at it curiously. Horace sat on his bed, looking at the wall.
"Do you....do you think they found out?" he asked after a moment of thinking. Enoch scoffed and took a bite out of his candy. He looked into is partner's grey eyes.
"I would be surprise if they didn't."