A Different Love - 24. Chapter 24

We left the house by the front door and walked up the road towards the village. Nathan was right, it was cold, and I was grateful he’d brought my coat back. Tiny swirls of snow were beginning to fall, and the sky was laden with the threat of more to come. It was a relief to know that Nathan would be able to tell me everything that had happened after we’d left the pub the previous night and after a few seconds I tentatively broached the subject.

“I don’t remember much after we left the pub” I remarked, shaking my head. “It’s all a bit hazy”

“No, you wouldn’t” replied Nathan, with a broad grin on his face. “You were pretty much out of it by the time we left”

With a growing sense of trepidation creeping over me, I gave a nervous laugh and hesitantly carried on.

“I’m ashamed to say it, but I don’t even remember getting undressed and into bed” I added, shaking my head.

Nathan didn't respond and when I gazed at him, he sighed in resignation "Well actually......." He paused, clearly unsure whether to go on. "You didn't as such....well not on your own anyway"

My voice rose in alarm and I held on to his arm to stop him "What do you mean?"

A second or two later the penny suddenly dropped, and I realized what he was trying to say. “You mean……you erm..…”

He nodded sheepishly. “I couldn’t very well leave you in a heap on the floor, could I?” he exclaimed

“No, course not” I admitted reluctantly, wishing this was all a bad dream.

A picture of my bedroom with the clothes missing immediately sprung to mind and my face turned bright red with embarrassment. Several thoughts rushed through my head simultaneously as the likely scenario played out in my mind. Of course I hadn’t undressed myself! No wonder I couldn’t remember anything about it! It was Nathan who’d……. Shit, I thought as the realization suddenly struck me, he must have seen me naked! I could feel my cheeks burning with acute embarrassment, but Nathan just gave a half smile and pretended not to notice.Despite my discomfort it was funny in a perverse kind of way. He was the one person I would’ve loved to have undress me and when he did, I wasn’t even conscious enough to enjoy it.

“You'd been sick all over your clothes” he explained “It had soaked right through to your underwear so I had no choice but to change it. The swim shorts were the first thing I could find”

I just nodded my head and silently cursed. At least that explained why I was wearing them.

“By the way” he asked, as his eyes widened with shock “Where on earth did you get that bruise?”

He was referring of course to the large contusion that covered most of my left thigh and buttock, gained as a result of foolishly rushing to catch the bus.

“I fell on the ice running down the hill from the railway station” I explained “My train was late and I wanted to catch the bus so I wouldn’t have to wait two hours for the next one”

“That must have hurt like hell!” he exclaimed sympathetically

“Yeah, it did” I agreed, subconsciously rubbing the area in question

“Oh, by the way” he laughed “Nice pair of briefs!”

My stomach twisted itself in knots as I realised what he meant. The briefs I'd been wearing the previous night were a pair that Connor had bought me ages ago as a joke and had the words 'Beware of the snake!!!' emblazoned across the front. I only wore them very rarely, but due to my many fantasies about Nathan, I probably put them on sub consciously hoping the ‘snake’ would be released.

“There’s one good thing anyway” he continued, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh.

I frowned and gazed at him warily, wondering what was coming next "Do I really want to know?"

He continued unabated, his wide grin breaking into laughter “Nature’s been very kind to you down there Jason, I bet your girlfriends are never disappointed!”

“NATHAN!!!!”

“What” he answered, feigning innocence “It’s a compliment!”

If it was possible my face reddened even more and l lapsed into silence, too embarrassed to comment.

Meanwhile the object of our conversation was busy making itself several inches longer than Nathan had witnessed it, as his comments and the thought of him looking at my naked body began to have an unfortunate effect. What would he say if he could see it now?

Nathan gave me a sidelong glance and gently nudged my shoulder, attempting to alleviate my embarrassment

“Anyway Jason, did you have a good night?”

“Yeah, I did thanks. It was brilliant. Well, apart from the last bit that is.”

"Yeah, it could have ended better, but I really enjoyed it too. We'll have to do it again soon, but with less beer"

"Yeah, I'd love to Nathan"

I suddenly felt impelled to offer an explanation about the unfortunate way the evening had ended.

“The thing is I’m not used to drinking so fast” I began “And I hadn’t had very much to eat”

His face became serious once again and he looked at me with concern.

“You should have told me Jason; I wouldn’t have encouraged you to drink so much”

“It’s not your fault Nathan; you hardly held me down and poured beer down my neck, did you?”

“No but even so, I still feel partly responsible. I should have known better. You could have hurt yourself a lot more than you did!”

It was hard to deny his logic, but I was much more touched by his concern than his reasoning and wished I could have hugged him there and then. It wasn’t possible of course, so instead I stopped walking and gently grasped his arm, turning him towards me. “So tell me what happened last night Nathan?” I urged him “How did I hurt my wrist?”

He sighed heavily before replying. “You seemed ok until it was time to leave the pub” he began to explain “I mean we were both a bit merry, but that was only to be expected. After all, we had been drinking all evening! It just seemed to hit you all of a sudden though. We were ready to leave the pub and you could hardly stand up. I had to help you on with your coat!”

I screwed up my forehead in an attempt to recall the events, but it was all very hazy “Yeah, I think I remember that bit now”

“You wanted another drink” he chuckled

“The barman….I remember the barman saying something”

“Yeah, he was collecting glasses nearby and he just said you’d had enough. We were about to leave anyway but he advised me to take you home whilst I still could!”

I tried hard to think back to the previous night, but it seemed as though a fog had descended over my memory and after we left the pub, I couldn’t remember much of anything.

“I helped you on with your coat” he went on “and then we left through the front door”

“So we managed to get outside ok?”

“Oh yeah. But I think the fresh air must have made you even worse! As soon as we got outside you practically collapsed and I had to hold you up. One minute we were struggling along and the next thing you’d tripped over something and crashed into a wall. I think you must have instinctively tried to break your fall by putting your hand out, but instead you missed and scraped your wrist along the wall”

I shuddered with horror as I imagined my bare wrist brushing along the wall and fully understood why it was in such a mess. Therough brickwork would have easily scraped through the soft flesh of my exposed wrist.

“There was blood all over your arm and your watch had come off” he continued, giving an exasperated sigh “I was just about to pick it up when you stood on it!”

“So that’s how it got so damaged!”

“Yeah ‘fraid so. I had no choice but to sit you down on the ground until I’d collected all the pieces together”

“So how on earth did you get me home?” I exclaimed

“It wasn’t easy, I can tell you!” he admitted ruefully “We made pretty slow progress, but eventually I managed to get you there”

He paused and from the way he looked at me, I could tell he was holding something back.

“What happened next Nathan?” I enquired, as a feeling of dread crept over me.

“Erm….nothing really”

A tone of reluctance had crept into his voice and I couldn’t help pressing him further.

“C’mon Nathan, I know there’s something!”

He sighed loudly and shook his head, obviously loath to tell me. “It’s just that you were sick”

“Whereabouts?”

He pointed further up the street towards the shops. “In the first shop doorway. I’d just sat you down for a minute to rest and the next thing you were throwing up all over the place!”

“You’re joking!”

“No, unfortunately not”

A shiver of fear ran through my body and I was silent for several seconds as I slowly digested this latest piece of information. Mrs. Cassidy, who ran the grocery shop, was a real ogre and well known in the village for her lack of patience and acid tongue. If anyone had seen me and told her, she’d be straight round to mum and dads making one hell of a fuss and my life wouldn’t be worth living. It was a nasty thought and for the moment I pushed it to the back of my mind and changed the subject.

“So how long did it take you to get me home?”

“Oh ages!” he sighed “And then when I eventually got you there, I had to prop you up against the wall with one hand and search for your keys with the other. God knows how we ever got inside!”

“But how did you find my bedroom?”

“Pure luck! The first door I opened was the bathroom and the second door was your bedroom”

“At least we didn’t wake mum and dad anyway”

“Mmm” he mused, shaking his head in amazement “I don’t know how! You weren’t exactly quiet”

“Sorry Nathan, I don’t know what to say”

He stopped and turned towards me with a smile on his face. “You don’t need to say anything Jason, that’s what friends are for”

His words sent a warm feeling coursing through my body and I couldn’t describe how good it felt to be considered his friend. A sudden thought made my blood run cold and I had to reassure myself that I hadn’t said anything untoward. “When you say….erm …not very quiet” I enquired tentatively “What exactly do you mean?”

He laughed out loud before a slight expression of puzzlement clouded his face. “You kept calling out someone’s name. It was hard to tell who, but I think it was Connor….or something like that…..maybe Connie….I don’t know for certain”

My heart pounded like a sledgehammer and I pounced on his second choice rather than having to explain why I was calling out a boy’s name. I daren’t ask if I’d said anything else, in case I couldn’t think up any more excuses. Ironically, Connie was the name I’d used before to explain to my parents Connor’s presence in my life.

For several seconds the power of speech deserted me. When I finally managed a coherent reply, my voice was shaky and hesitant.

“Oh…that…erm… that must have been Connie, my ex-girlfriend!” I spluttered, quickly looking away to avoid his gaze.

My chest tightened as I held my breath, desperately hoping he’d accept my impromptu explanation.

“Ah, that must have been it then” he answered, seemingly satisfied with my response.

I heaved a sigh of relief and just when I thought the subject was closed, he suddenly posed another question. “Is that who you meant last night, Jason? In the pub?”

My heart raced as I sensed dangerous territory approaching and quickly agreed. “Yeah but it’s…erm…over now. Like I said, I don’t really like to talk about it”.

I couldn’t keep the emotion out of my voice and he stopped suddenly, lightly grasping my arm. “I hope she didn’t hurt you too much” he commented sympathetically.

If it were possible, his quiet concerned tone of voice endeared me towards him even more and I almost blurted out the truth. Instead, a sense of fear at the possibility that I'd said something inappropriate about Connor swept over me and with a nervous laugh, I quickly answered him. “Oh no, it was a mutual thing”

I could tell from the look on his face that he was dying to know more, but before he had the chance to ask another question, I hurriedly changed the subject.

“So it was you that cleaned up my wrist then?”

The diversion was successful and his thoughts immediately returned to the previous night. “It was in such a mess I had to!” he explained “I thought it’d be a good idea to clean it up while you were out of it and wouldn’t feel any pain. Your clothes were in a terrible mess so I took them home with me so I could wash them”

My eyes were instinctively drawn to the sleeve of my coat but there was no trace of any stains whatsoever.

“I managed to get the blood stains out” he added, reading my thoughts.

He turned towards me with a slight frown on his face and I could tell there was something he wanted to get off his chest.

“I hope you didn’t mind me undressing you and everything Jason. I realise it must be embarrassing for you, but honestly, I didn’t have much choice”

“Nathan, of course I don’t mind! I can’t believe you did all that for me, you really didn’t have to”

“I know, but I wanted to. I’m sure you’d have done the same for me”

My response needed no thinking about whatsoever and I instantly agreed. “Yeah, of course I would”

He smiled with satisfaction and I realized with a jolt that I’d been about to lean over and kiss him. It was vital to remember that my relationship with Nathan was totally different to the one I’d shared with Connor and to inadvertently confuse the two was a sure fire recipe for disaster. It was becoming increasingly evident that I had an awful lot to thank him for, but he didn’t seem to want any gratitude or thanks. After all, I’d only known him for a short while, but it was almost as if he was glad to do it, like some kind of masculine guardian angel.

By this time we were approaching the shop and I began to feel increasingly nervous about having to face Mrs Cassidy. My eyes automatically swept across the doorway step, now scrupulously clean, and I could only imagine what she'd said as she furiously scrubbed away the mess.

“I’m going to have to call in and apologise about the mess in the doorway” I murmured, half to myself.

He gave a sigh of disbelief and shook his head in amazement. “Do you know Jason, I can’t work you out?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, shrugging my shoulders in bewilderment

“I don’t know, I can’t explain it” he answered, shaking his head “You’re so different from anyone else I’ve ever met before”

I froze slightly at his use of the word different, but it was obvious he didn’t mean it the way I was thinking.

“How many people would actually own up to it in the first place, let alone apologise!”

His incredulous expression caused a rush of embarrassment to surface and I was quick to explain.

“The thing is Nathan, Mr Cassidy the owner, is a good friend of mum and dad’s. If anyone found out about it, at least I can say I apologised”

He reluctantly nodded his agreement and had no choice but to agree. “You’re probably right” he conceded grudgingly “I doubt anyone saw us though”

As I pushed open the shop door, the bell seemed to ring louder than usual as it announced our arrival.

“Oh no! It’s Mrs Cassidy. I’m not looking forward to this at all” I hissed, half turning away.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine” he whispered back, grasping my arm “You can’t leave now! You wanted to do this”

Mrs Cassidy was busy talking to a customer and I stood nervously behind her waiting to speak.

“I don’t know what the worlds coming to these days!” she was saying in an agitated voice “All that mess. I can do without that first thing in the morning, I can tell you!”

“Absolutely revolting” agreed the elderly customer, shaking her head in disgust “Did you call the police?”

“The police!” she exclaimed in a loud voice, folding her arms over her ample bosom. “They’re not interested these days unless you murder someone!”

I heaved an inner sigh of relief. With dad being so ill, the police were the last thing he needed! The elderly lady picked up her shopping and still shaking her head, left the shop. Mrs Cassidy turned towards me, nodding her greeting.

“Yes Jason, what can I get you?”

I swallowed nervously and my throat suddenly became dry with fear. It was now or never and I hesitantly continued. “I.....erm.....don’t want anything really”

“Well what do you want then?” she answered sharply “I haven’t got all day you know!”

“I’m really sorry” I began hesitantly “It’s about the erm...” My voice tailed away as she stood there glowering and I tried again to explain. “It’s about the mess, you know, in the doorway”

“Oh yes!” she answered and her eyes flashed with anger “And what do you know about it?”

“Well” I continued “I just wanted to say...It was....erm”

“What he’s trying to say” interrupted Nathan, before I could go any further “Is that....erm.....it was me. I was the one who was sick in your doorway! And I’m here to apologise”

My heart dropped like a stone and I took a sharp intake of breath, unable to believe that he’d taken the blame. My eyes met his in a silent thank you and he smiled and winked at me surreptitiously. Mrs Cassidy looked as though she was about to explode as she immediately turned her attention towards him. Almost as soon as she looked at him her tone softened slightly, obviously becoming influenced by his innocent smile and the look of boyish charm that suddenly adorned his handsome face. It didn’t stop her berating him, however, and a second or two later she launched into a fresh tirade.

“Let me tell you something young man. I don’t appreciate having to clean up that sort of mess first thing in the morning!”

He quickly cut in with a tone of polite sincerity that seemed to temporarily alleviate her anger.

“No no, of course not and I understand. That’s why I’ve come to apologise. I’m very sorry Mrs Cassidy, I’ll make sure it never happens again”

When she responded, her aggressive manner had thawed slightly and I couldn’t believe that Nathan had achieved, in an incredibly short space of time, something I thought was virtually impossible. She shook her head and gave a sigh of forgiveness, the ghost of a smile quickly stealing across her face.

“Yes well, at least you’ve had the decency to admit it” she conceded reluctantly “I suppose that’s something young man”

We both relaxed slightly, not realising that she hadn’t quite finished. “But if it happens again......” she warned, leaving the threat hanging “I’ll be speaking to your parents Jason”

My heart instantly sank like a stone and Nathan rushed in, determined to combat this latest threat.

“Look, is there anything I can do to make amends?” he asked, in that same tone of polite sincerity. “After all, it wasn’t anything to do with Jason”

He smiled and gave me a secret wink. Her eyebrows rose in surprise and he quickly pushed home his advantage. “I really don’t mind Mrs Cassidy”

“Well, as a matter of fact, I’ve just had a delivery” she said, with a thoughtful expression on her face “My husband’s out at the moment and there are some boxes to stack on the shelves. If you don’t mind, that is?”

“Certainly, it’d be a pleasure” he beamed, knowing that he’d completely won her over.

We followed Mrs Cassidy through to the storeroom at the back of the shop. A stack of boxes were piled haphazardly in the middle of the floor, making access to the rest of the room virtually impossible. “I need as many as you can get on this shelf” she directed, pointing to an empty one on her left “The rest can go underneath”

We set to work as she stood and watched us stacking then neatly on the shelf. They were fairly heavy to lift, but within a short space of time all the boxes were in place and the job was done.

“Thank you lads, that was very helpful. It saves my husband a job!”

“No problem at all” replied Nathan, giving her his best smile “And I’m really sorry again for the mess”

She smiled at him and shook her head. “We’ll say no more about it. You’re forgiven”

I heaved a sigh of relief as another customer entered the shop and she turned away to serve them. All I wanted to do was get out of there as quickly as possible and I grabbed Nathan’s arm, steering him purposefully towards the door. I still couldn’t quite believe what he’d done. Within a few minutes he’d completely turned the situation around and even had Mrs Cassidy thanking him.

Once outside, I couldn’t contain my admiration any longer and turned towards him excitedly.

“Nathan, how on earth did you manage to do that?”

“Do what?” he exclaimed, pretending not to know what I was talking about.

“Sweet talk Mrs Cassidy”

“Oh it was nothing, you’ll learn one day” he added cheekily

“Nothing! You were fantastic!” I exclaimed, longing to hug him “But you shouldn’t have taken the blame”

“Yeah, but like you said, she knows your parents” he pointed out reasonably “I couldn’t let you take the blame. What’s the point in worrying your dad when you don’t have to?”

I had to admit that his reasoning was spot on and I was touched by his concern for my family.

“Thanks Nathan, I owe you one......or maybe several” I added, thinking about last night.

“I’ll remember that” he said, grinning widely. “Where are we going by the way?”

By this time I was desperate for a hot drink, but there were still one or two things I needed to know.

"We'll just walk up to the park and then turn back"

He nodded his agreement and we fell silent for a while as we concentrated on trudging through the snow.

Before long I was forced to ask a question that had been preying on my mind. “Did you manage to catch the bus home last night Nathan?”

“Nah, just missed it by a few minutes”

“I’m really sorry, that’s my fault”

I felt terrible it was because of me that he’d missed the bus, but strangely he didn’t seem to mind.

“Don’t worry about it” he replied simply “We still got home all right”

For a split second my train of thought was interrupted, as one word registered above all others

“What do you mean, we? I enquired tentatively “You weren’t alone then?”

“Well no, erm….not entirely alone”

My heart began to pound wildly but before I could begin to process this latest revelation, he began to explain.

“I shared a taxi back to town with a girl actually” he explained with a wide grin “We were...erm....a bit distracted. She was very easy to talk to”

My heart sank and I stared at him, trying to determine what he meant without asking outright. This time there was no familiar mischievous expression on his face to suggest he was joking and I could only assume it was true.In reality I was desperately trying to put a brave face on my bitter disappointment, but I still couldn’t help causing myself further distress by asking even more questions. Although his behaviour the previous night made it seem unlikely he was gay, at this early stage I could still convince myself there was a slim possibility and anything challenging that hope felt like a crushing blow. Nevertheless, I had to know all the details and desperately tried to appear casual and aloof as I quizzed him further.

“So how did you manage to get a taxi? The nearest one’s in Hamborough”

“I was really lucky actually. As I was walking past the pub, this girl was standing outside. We got talking and I discovered she was waiting for a taxi to take her to Hamborough, but it was running late and should have picked her up ages ago”

He gave a wide grin as if he couldn’t believe his luck. “We were just wondering if it was ever going to turn upwhen it suddenly arrived!”

“That was lucky” I answered, trying to hide the fact that I was thinking exactly the opposite.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too. We got home in no time”

My mouth suddenly went dry and a horrible feeling of despair and misery shrouded my thoughts.He’d actually taken her home!! The sick feeling in the pit of my stomach increased, as I was forced to accept the inevitable. A sudden vision of the two of them writhing naked on his bedtogether swam before my eyes and I had to fight the urge to ask him if he’d spent the night with her. It was as I expected. He was into girls and there was nothing I could do about it. The truth of the matter was, I couldn’t bear the thought of him spending time with someone else. It could only mean he’d have less time to spend with me and the intense feeling of jealousy that surged through my body surprised even me. I reminded myself once again that I had no right to feel this way, but I just couldn’t help it. I was completely overcome by the intensity of my feelings towards him.

“Will you be seeing her again?” I asked, struggling to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

“I doubt it” he answered breezily, shrugging his shoulders lightly “She did give me her phone number though!”

The flippant way he said it amazed me and I didn’t know whether to feel elated because it obviously wasn’t important to him or disgusted that he treated the episode in such a casual way. It just didn’t seem to fit with the Nathan I'd come to know. Shaking my head in bewilderment, the sense of disgust quickly won through and I couldn’t help expressing a strong sense of disapproval.

“I really don’t know how you can do that Nathan”

“Do what?” he countered, with an enquiring glance.

“Just see someone once, you know, sleep around”

I could see from the wounded expression on his face that my comment had really hurt him and I quickly realised I had no right to be so judgmental. After all, I’d done exactly the same thing with one night stands in the pastand I hastily tried to make amends.

“Sorry Nathan, I shouldn’t have said that. It’s none of my business”

I quickly continued, feeling a sudden need to justify my criticism “It’s just that when I find someone, I want it to be a long term relationship, you know, with someone special”

He sighed and shook his head before gazing at me with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Look Jason, you obviously feel quite strongly about this and I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of me. So please, let me explain”

I nodded my agreement and he steered me across the road towards the deserted park. We wandered over towards the swings and sat down, brushing off the thick covering of snow that clung to the plastic seats. Nathan began swinging slowly backwards and forwards, silently pushing the snow into mounds with the tip of his shoes. After a short while he stopped and frowning slightly, turned towards me.

“Look Jason, I just want you to know, you’ve got it all wrong! I’m not in the habit of treating people in that way"

I glanced at him sideways, silently meeting his earnest gaze. When I didn’t respond he hesitantly continued, but this time a tone of frustration had crept into his voice.

“When I said we got home in no time, I meant her home! It was well past midnight and I just wanted to make sure she got home safely”

A huge feeling of relief swept over me as his words registered, and I was suddenly overcome with a growing sense of elation. So they hadn’t spent the night together! Did this mean there was still a chance he might be gay? From what I’d learnt about him so far, escorting a girl home for her own safety was just the sort of thing that Nathan would do and I instinctively knew he was telling the truth. I felt completely wretched for doubting him earlier and quickly apologised again.

“I’m sorry for judging you Nathan, I had no right”

“No, you didn’t!”

A heavy frown creased his forehead and as he continued, I could tell he was speaking from bitter experience.

“The thing is Jason, we’re all looking for that special person. The trouble is, they aren’t always so easy to find. You must know that!”

Connor’s departure immediately sprung to mind and before I realized it my thoughts had become heartfelt words.

“And once you find them, they’re not always easy to keep hold of either!”

“Ah, the mysterious Connie!” he laughed, with a twinkle in his eye “You’ll have to tell me all about her sometime!”

I blushed and looked away, as if somehow my eyes would betray a hint of the truth. There was no way I wanted to talk about my imaginary girlfriend or my first and only boyfriend.

“You’re bound to find someone soon though Jason” he went on, nudging my arm “I can’t understand why some good looking girl hasn’t snapped you up already!”

His puzzled tone of voice set alarm bells ringing inside my head as I thought about the irony of the situation. I didn’t want to tell him that the real reason someone hadn’t ‘snapped me up’ was because they had to be a good looking ‘boy’. I was desperate to steer him away from the topic of my love life, or lack of, and there was only one way I could think of to do it.

“So what about you Nathan? Have you ever found anyone special?”

His whole demeanour immediately changed to one of despondency and he couldn’t hide the sad faraway look that came into his eyes.

“I thought there was someone once” he murmured, in a voice choked with emotion “It was ages ago now though”

“So it didn’t work out then?”

“No, it didn’t” he said bitterly “I was only 16 but believe me, it turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life”

“Why, what happened?”

“Let’s just say I was far too young” he said, sighing heavily. His eyes glistened with tears and embarrassed by his impromptu show of emotion, he wiped them roughly away with the sleeve of his coat. It was obviously a painful subject for him to discuss and his reluctance to go on was evident. There was no way I wanted to push him any further, but I couldn’t help at least trying to make him feel a little better.

“If you ever need anyone to talk to Nathan” I said quietly, gently rubbing his shoulder “I’m a good listener”

“Thanks Jason, maybe I’ll take you up on that sometime”

After a moment’s silence the familiar smile gradually returned to his face and I breathed a sigh of relief that he was back to his cheerful self. He gave an involuntary shiver and I wasn’t sure if it was his recollection of the past or the cold weather that had prompted his action. I had a sudden idea and wondered if he would be interested.

“Hey Nathan, do you fancy meeting my parents? I’ll introduce you when we get back if you like”

“Yeah, that’d be great!”

His reply was remarkably enthusiastic considering that I’d practically dragged him into my bedroom earlier on without wanting anyone to see him. It was just that I'd needed to find out what had happened to my watch and clothes before my parents began to suspect anything, so at least I could attempt to put things right.

The snow was falling heavily as we set off home and we both struggled to see our way through the white torrent swirling around us in all directions. By the time we got home our clothes were covered in snow and we stood outside the front door like two snowmen, hastily stamping and shaking our clothing to dislodge the stubborn snow.