I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, Paul let out a loud hoot of delight as Robert grabbed him by the arm and whipped his behind with a wet rolled-up tea towel. Robert’s eyes were shining, and his forehead was damp with perspiration.

Then my son noticed me. Our eyes met, and I thought I saw something like shame in his face. A blush spread across his cheeks. He let the tea towel drop to the floor.

I closed the door and went back to the living room.

‘Do you think it’s – normal?’

We were in bed; Kathryn was trying to read.

‘What?’

‘The two of them.’

She closed her book and rubbed her eyes. ‘Haven’t we been through this before? And didn’t we agree that it’s good for Robert to have friends?’

‘But it isn’t friends, is it? It’s just Paul. And has been for years.’

She put her book on the bedside table and reached over for the light. ‘I think we should sleep now, Howard.’

Turning off the lamp, she lay down on her side. But I remained sitting, staring into the darkness.

After a while I said, ‘I think we should separate them.’

She didn’t respond.

‘He’s fifteen. He should be doing other things. Moving on. It’s time.’

She rolled onto her back. ‘We’ve been through all this.’

‘We could get him in at the other school. A fresh start.’

‘It wouldn’t make any difference.’

‘So you do think there’s a problem?’

‘I don’t know,’ she sighed. Then she added, ‘They’re friends. That can’t be bad, can it?’

We were both still. I wanted to put the light on again, but Kathryn turned on her side and curled her legs up towards her chest, as if she was about to sleep.

I let a minute pass, and then I reached over and stroked her hair. ‘Are you awake?’

‘Yes.’

‘A new school would be the best thing for him, I think.’ ‘We can talk about it tomorrow.’

‘I’ll ask about the other school. We can get him in there before he takes his exams. We should do it now before the term really gets going.’

‘It would unsettle him.’

‘No reason to be unsettled. He’s a confident boy. He’ll make new friends.’

She said nothing.

I pulled the sheets up around me. Robert had a duvet now, but we preferred sheets and blankets. I liked to feel their weight on me.

‘I’ll make enquiries in the morning. I’m sure they’ll be able to squeeze him in,’ I said.

He was studying for O level Art. The new school, we were told by the headmaster when we met him to discuss the change, had a reputation for the arts.