COMPLETED // i don't want to hurt anymore - enoch o'connor x reader

(Y/N)'s P.O.V

"I'm afraid he's off at the mainland. Church business."
These words reverberated through my head as I felt my hand slip from Enoch's. I didn't dare to look at him, knowing that the disappointed expression on his face would be more than I could bear. Enoch never liked to get things wrong, or let me down. He'd try to keep it in, of course, how upset he was... But it would inevitably stick with him for months.

A soft "W - what?" from my boyfriend broke my train of thought, and my head snapped back up in order to stare at the scowling barman.
"I said he's away. Not here."
Enoch raised a hand, and pasted a smile on his face. "Are you sure, mate? I mean I checked only yesterday - "
The barman started to turn away from us, disliking Enoch's tone of voice. "I'm bloody well sure, so don't give me that attitude, sonny boy. And, also, get out of here. You're all far too young to be in the pub."
We were left standing, like an inconsistent triad, staring at his retreating back.

I breathed in the cold night air, wringing my hands to hide how much they were shaking from Enoch and Horace. Horace sat beside me on the small wooden bench which, many nights prior, Enoch and I had sat on, and talked about his insecurities. And then, uh, we made out. But this time, my boyfriend was not sat next to me; instead, he was pacing in front of us, scowling and running his hands through his hair.
"God, I'm so stupid. I'm such a fucking idiot," he kept repeating, over and over. I stood up and placed a wary hand on his shoulder, attempting to calm him down. However, he shrugged it off, turning away from me, so I stood back. The thing is with Enoch... you have to let him do his thing. You have to wait for him to calm down, for the waves to settle, before you can even attempt to work things out. If you don't, you end up making things a whole lot worse.

So I waited for a couple of minutes before trying again.
"Enoch...Enoch, it's fine. It doesn't matter, I'm not... disappointed or anything," I said, prying his clenched fist open and slipping my hand into it. "I still love you, no matter where the stupid priest is."
He sighed, rubbing his forehead with his free hand. "It's just... I wanted this to be perfect, you know? I mean, I proposed to you, because you mean so fucking much to me. But I just... I guess I would've never even..." He trailed off at the end.
"Never - never even what?"
"If I knew this was going to go to shit, I should never have wasted your time."
Those words hit me like a truck. I shouldn't really have been offended by them, looking back at them in hindsight, but something, maybe the fact that this caused me to believe Enoch only proposed to me because he just wanted it to be steady and strong and real... and not because he actually loved me... yeah. That hurt.

And then something hit me.

Enoch knew that the marriage, even if the priest had been on the island, wouldn't technically be legal; there were no documents and the priest would've surely been drunk. So... would it be that different if someone else were to marry us? Namely... Horace?
I played this idea over in my head a couple of times before even considering to tell Enoch. But, even after the fifth time, I realized that, as sad as this may be, my boyfriend was desperate just to make this work.

So I looked around for him, but frowned when he seemed to be nowhere to be seen. And then I saw him, sitting just down the path from us on the beach, crouching in the shingle, head in hands. I took off my heels (for some reason, I thought that going barefoot on stones would be more comfortable than tripping in heels) and made my way over to him. He raised his head a little when he felt me sit close next to him, but it dropped again, almost immediately.

"Hey," I said, leaning my body into his, partly to comfort him, but also partly to leech his warmth.
"Hey," he replied quietly, finally giving in and gently looping his arm over my shoulder and giving me a small squeeze.
"I was... I was thinking... This obviously hasn't worked out quite the way you wanted it to. But, I thought that maybe it would still mean the same kind of thing if... if someone else were to marry us? The priest is not an option anymore, and so the only other option is... Well, the only other person here is Horace."

Enoch was silent for a few seconds before looking up at me, the familiar dark but somehow still bright shine in his eyes, that I had come to know. He whispered his next words. "That... That might be a good idea. Yes... God, yes. I have the rings, I have you... This is all perfect. And I wouldn't want anyone else but my best friend to actually make it official."
I grinned and leant my head on his shoulder, finally confident this whole dilemma may have been sorted out with just one of my crazy thoughts.
Enoch tapped me on the shoulder to take me out of my happy daze. "You should go and speak to him."
"Me? He's your best friend."
"Yes, and this brilliant idea was yours," Enoch said, giving me a slight nudge. I sighed and boosted myself up off the pebbles and made my way over to Horace.

The pale blonde boy in question was humming, a habit that I had come to learn meant that he was nervous, so when I reached him, I stood close next to him, linking my arm in his.
Neither of us said a word for a while (which had proven to be the theme of this entire situation), but I realised that we were running out of time, so I cleared my throat and got to work with persuading him.

"Horace, I need to ask you a favour. A huge, massive favour that I will understand if you don't want to do, but it would mean the most to Enoch and I if... if you could help us."
"Oh, what is it," he sighed, "because if it involves any kind of water, I'm out, because this is a new suit, freshly pressed yesterday afternoon."
I laughed slightly. "Oh no, I can assure you that is water free. I was... We were wondering if - if you could... marry us."
Silence, then a small laugh. "Sorry, for a moment there I thought you said you wanted me to... to act the priest and - "
"That is exactly what we're saying. Horace, please."
"I don't think..."
I unlinked Horace and turned to face him, staring him down unforgivingly. "Your best friend is on the brink of a mental breakdown after his failed attempt at making our relationship official. I don't want to quote Star Wars or anything, but you're our only hope."

"Fine. Goodness, I'll do it. Just...just don't get me mixed up in any of this funny business."
                                . . .

A quarter of an hour later, Enoch and I were standing facing each other, our hands linked, on the edge of the forest that surrounded our home.
And, god, Enoch looked happy. Happier than I had ever seen him, even after two and a bit years of being around him constantly. His eyes shone as they stared into mine, and his perfect lips seemed to be permanently upturned at the edges.

I was aroused from my daze by a loud hiss from Horace.
"What do you want me to say?"
I snapped my head towards him, frowning. "I don't know... Something romantic."

"Well, Enoch... You've never been the most reliable best mate. You always left me for your creepy dolls, and then you left me for (Y/N), and I suppose for a while I was very upset. But now I realise that you two... you two have to be together, and none of us would want it any other way. So, on that note, do you have the rings?"
Enoch dropped one of my hands to fumble around in his pocket, before extracting the two gold wedding rings.
"(Y/N) and Enoch, I join you together in completely unofficial matrimony... blah blah blah... You may now kiss your completely unofficial bride."

When Enoch had leaned in close enough so that our noses were almost touching, I grinned, and whispered, "You know, that was quite possibly the least romantic thing I've ever heard in my life."
Enoch slid his hands slowly down onto my waist, and I placed mine on the back of his neck. "Ah, well. When have we been the most romantic couple?"
And then his lips were on my lips, and my lips were on his lips, and I had this strange feeling of déjà vu... This felt exactly like the first time we had kissed. We hadn't known then that the small innocent kiss under the willow tree would lead to a relationship, them a breakup, and then a relationship... and then eventually a marriage.

But hopefully, it would be plain sailing from here.

"They say that love is forever... your forever is all that I need."