Alice smiled at Joseph, trying to focus on what he was telling her. She couldn’t. All she could think about was Adam. He never replied to her message about meeting Dave. This was either because he didn’t care, or he was annoyed about it. ‘Or seething with rage about it,’ Alice thought with a shiver of dread. “So… should I say yes?” Joseph asked. 

The old park was on the outskirts of town, roughly an equal distance between his location and Jamie’s. Still, he ran the entire distance, not wanting Jamie to get there first and be forced to wait around, having no clue as to what was going on. Ste leaned on the old goalpost as he caught his breath. His lungs were on fire, probably because of the smoking, but all that realisation did was make him crave a cigarette. ‘I need one to calm my nerves,’ Ste told himself. With a shaking hand, Ste dropped the pack of cigarettes as he went to retrieve one. A couple fell into a puddle and weren’t rescuable, but he scooped up the dry ones and poked them back into the packet, popping one between his lips. The cigarette made him feel lightheaded but slightly less panicked as he awaited Jamie’s arrival. He saw Jamie in the distance, walking at a slow pace toward him. He looked so small and innocent, hugging his oversized hoodie around himself and wrapped in a pink scarf. Ste wanted to hug him, m