They all look to their left at the sound of a revving engine. A pair of headlights at the school gates cut through the falling snow. The driver’s clearly in a hurry, wheels spinning as they accelerate on the slippery ground. The car is almost level with them when Will realizes who it is. The brakes are applied, the car slewing sideways to a stop ten metres away.

‘Great driving, wanker,’ one of the girls says.

‘Fucking hell,’ Will mutters as he ushers the kids and their spliff away. ‘This is all I need.’

‘Lost your fucking phone?’ Danny shouts, clinging to his open door as his feet slip on the icy ground. He pigeon-steps over the snow to Will, leaving his car diagonally across the car park, engine running, lights on, wipers at full chat.

‘It’s not a good time,’ Will says.

‘You’re a pain in the arse, you know that?’

‘If we’re gonna have another fight, can we get on with it? Got things I need to do.’ Will flaps his arms, palms facing Danny.

Danny takes a step backwards. ‘Why would we have a fight?’

‘April,’ Will says. ‘Guessing that’s why you’ve got the hump.’

‘April? What about her?’

‘You don’t fucking own her, you know.’ Will leans closer and Danny shuffles backwards once more.

‘Spare me, Will, yeah?’ he says. ‘Spare me the fucking do-gooder bit. It’s fucking boring.’ For an instant, he meets Will’s glare. His eyes are wide and wary, breaking away within a second.

‘She’s not into you.’

‘Yes, thank you, Will. If you want to have a go on her, be my guest. You’ll wanna wash your mouth out with soap after you’ve been there, though.’

‘Shut up, you dick.’

Danny holds up a hand. ‘All right, all right. Keep your tits on.’

Is he scared? Will thinks suddenly, out of nowhere. Scared of me kicking off? Impossible.

‘You’re not here because of April?’ Will asks.

‘No, Will. I haven’t ragged it over here, nearly crashing, like, fifty times, because of her. If you answered your fucking phone, you’d know that.’

‘What’s up, then? I can spare literally a minute, max.’

‘It’s Nain,’ Danny says. He and Will lock gazes again. The red-eyed intensity in Danny’s expression is not anger, as Will at first presumed.

‘What’s happened? Is she …? Fuck. Tell me what’s happened, Danny.’

‘Stop panicking.’ Danny reaches out and grabs Will’s forearm. ‘She’s not dead, all right.’

‘What is it? What is it, then?’

‘Just calm down and listen a minute, yeah?’

‘I’m listening,’ Will snaps. Danny glares at him and Will takes a deep breath. ‘OK, OK. I’m listening.’

‘I checked in on her at the hospital this afternoon, expecting her to be out of it.’

‘She wasn’t?’

Danny shakes his head.

‘She’s woken up?’