He placed another chip on his tongue. Wiped his greasy fingers on his jeans. When the song had finished he offered Hailey one of his earbuds. Swiped through his music.

‘This is my favourite song. It’s old but… not as old as Ray Charles, I guess, but…’

‘Oasis!’ She nodded approvingly as ‘Don’t Go Away’ began.

They sat on the bench long after the chips had been eaten. Long after the sun had begun to set. Taking it in turns to share their playlists. Getting to know each other through music and lyrics.

Hailey introduced him to Etta James’ ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’. Had Connor heard it on the radio he wouldn’t have listened, wouldn’t have appreciated it, but now, with the sky tinged with pinks and reds, he fell into the soothing tones. Then watched anxiously for Hailey’s reaction as he followed it up with The Verve’s ‘Bittersweet Symphony’.

It is hard for Connor to carry on talking. Remembering. Hailey’s face is more relaxed than it had been when he arrived. He wants to share with her the memory of their first kiss. He had walked her home after the batteries on their phones had died but his head, his heart, had still been filled with music. On the corner of her street, she’d raised her face to his expectantly and he had grazed his lips gently against hers, asking a question she had answered by winding her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. He wants to share it all with her but he doesn’t. Conscious of Mr Marshall in the next room.

Instead, Connor pulls out his earbuds, untangles them, before realising he doesn’t have his phone.

Hailey’s eyes flicker to the iPad on the dark mahogany table. He opens the cover and an app opens up. He sees it is to help Hailey communicate. He opens YouTube and searches for the song he has listened to endlessly since that first night.

‘Don’t Go Away’.

Her lips flutter a brief smile as he finds it.

Gently, he holds an earbud against her ear, taking the other for himself. They listen together, in silence, his hand on hers.

After the song has ended, her fingers gently squeeze his and this one small gesture brings tears to his eyes. He stands but doesn’t move towards the door, his feet reluctant to walk away from her. Away from the hope he feels for the first time in such a long time.

‘I’ll see you soon,’ he promises, knowing that he will come back, not as her boyfriend but as something else, if he is still welcome once he has told Mr Marshall the truth.

It is time.

He walks slowly down the hallway. Eyes flickering towards the entrance of the basement. How could he ever have thought that Tyler and Ryan were down there?

‘Mr Marshall?’ he calls. ‘I’m ready to talk.’