“So what, you want him all over you?”

“There was nothing in it. I went over there for Ollie.”

“What?”

“I’m making sure he’s got other friends apart from me.”

Rory stepped away from Sebastian and peeked a look down the wing. Ollie was laughing with Jack and Green, cue in his hand, just like Rory wanted.

Sebastian sighed. “I’m sorry I reacted like that.”

“You’ve not been in a good place these past days.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Sebastian shook his head. “Not really.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I might go outside and watch soccer…”

“Can I come, too?” Rory waited for Sebastian to turn him down, but Sebastian gave him a considering look, then mumbled.

“If you want.”

“Yeah, I want.”

The benches were taken, and Sebastian led Rory away from the bins. He leaned against the wall, then pulled Rory back to his chest. The guilt-happiness combo assaulted Rory again, and he tried to push it away, squash it, but it was impossible. Sebastian’s arms were around him, holding him tight, and his chin rested on the top of Rory’s hair. The embrace made his heart flutter, but his stomach sour, and his head hurt.

They stayed in the same position in complete silence. Rory wasn’t really watching the inmates play soccer, and he doubted Sebastian was either. The sun started to go down, and lit up the yard in an orange glow.

“When I get out, one of the first places I’m gonna go is the beach.”

“The beach?”

“Rashford Pier. Ever been?”

Rory shook his head.

“My grandparents had a caravan nearby, and I used to go stay there for a few weeks in the summer. The pier had this arcade, and I spent my time cheating other kids out of their pennies.”

“You were always an asshole then?”

Sebastian chuckled. “Guess you could call me that. I call it being clever.”

“How modest.”

“I’d trick money out of them. Card games, magic stones—”

“Magic stones?”

“I’d claim that some pebble on the beach had special qualities.”

“And the kids believed that?”

“I could be convincing, even back then. Every year I went to that pier, and for those two weeks, I felt powerful, I felt clever, I felt good.”

Rory lowered his head. “Why are you saying all this?”

“I don’t know. I wanna go back there. I want to remember what that felt like.”

“But you are powerful, you are clever, and you are good.”

“I’m not, Rory. I had a plan, and it’s gone wrong, and I don’t feel powerful or clever, or good. I feel the opposite. I feel like a game’s been taken out of my hands. I feel like I’m losing, and I have no idea how to turn it around.”