“She over there?” He shifts closer and leans in to point, his arm almost brushing my cheek. I can hear him rubbing up against the chain-link fence behind me. The gap between my heartbeats stretches, as loud as his breathing, and he puts his hand on my shoulder, heavy. I can feel his fingers digging in, even through your jacket. My toes prickle, feet itching to run as he leans further over the fence, his breath close enough to move the hair next to my ear.

“Or are you on your own?” The hand moves down from my shoulder, fingers stroking, kneading at the fabric of your jacket. “Cuz I could keep you company.”

I jerk away. “Splinter!” I don’t turn to see if Splints is following, I run. I know he’ll catch up. He always has one eye on me. I drag my heavy legs across the grass and down the path and don’t look back till I reach the road, where I stop so suddenly a ball of dog barrels into the back of my thighs. It almost pushes both of us into the street. I catch us as a car horn blares, an angry face twisting through the window. I grab Splints’s collar and stumble to the top of our street, dragging him beside me. My wobbly legs get me round the corner before giving out, dropping me onto the gravel of the car park, bruising my bum. Splinter licks my face, his warm dog breath soft and bone-y. It tickles the hair next to my ear. My eyes sting. I push my fingers into my eyelids, pushing the wetness back around my lashes and into the damp corners of my nose. Splints pushes his face closer into mine, breathing his breath into my breath, licking the salt off my cheeks.

I hate you.

I need you.

Please don’t be gone.

SPLINTER OF THE limitless patience. He waits for my breath to steady, for my hands to stop shaking, his big warm body leaning into my side. When we’re sitting, he’s taller than me. His big dog head looks over mine back to the park. My bum’s cold and numb but his gentle panting rocks me, the motion warming. I sink my hand into the fur on his back, defrosting my fingers. His skin feels hot.

I don’t know if I can stand; my legs are impersonating sacks of water. I could use a nosy woman on a bike offering me a ride round about now, but the street stays stubbornly dark. I shove myself up and we head home. No one but us in the streetlights.