Page 123 of Rat

He stepped out, not wearing his tight white T-shirt, but a shirt and a jacket. A clear plastic bag of his belongings was slungover his shoulder, and as he walked further into the car park, he tilted his head up, looking towards the sky.

Rory saw his lips lift in a slight smile, then he lowered his head, and the smile vanished. He came closer, and Rory couldn’t look at him. He stared at the ground and rolled the loose stone under his foot.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be here,” Sebastian murmured.

“I owe it to you.”

“Look at me.”

Rory forced his head up but couldn’t look Sebastian in the eye.

Sebastian gestured to the car. “Yours?”

“It’s a hire car.”

“Ready to go?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Rory said.

Sebastian snorted. “I’m very ready.” He walked over to the passenger door, then raised his eyebrow at Rory over the roof of the car. “Well?”

Rory climbed inside. He waited until Sebastian had buckled himself in, then directed his question at the steering wheel. “Where do you want me to drive?”

Sebastian hesitated. “Can you… Can you drive through the city?”

“Sure.”

Sebastian flung his bag of belongings into the back.

“I’m really sorry—”

Sebastian raised his finger in the air, then made a shushing sound. “Not here. Not yet.”

Rory swallowed, then nodded. If Sebastian wanted to pretend things were normal between them for a few minutes, Rory wasn’t going to stop him.

“Okay…”

The drive was surreal. He had been expecting Sebastian to growl at him, launch at him, strangle him to death right there and then in the prison car park, but instead he lounged back in the seat and lowered his window.

He stuck his hand out and twitched his fingers as the air rushed by him. From the glimpses Rory kept stealing, he could tell Sebastian was smiling.

Rory drove through the city with no destination in mind. He passed the cinema, the train station, the clubs, the pubs—there was nothing of interest to him, but Sebastian was transfixed. He craned his neck to see the highest buildings and snorted at the names of restaurants.

“It’s amazing what changes,” Sebastian mumbled.

“It’s been sixteen years.”

“The same roads and street names, but everything on them is different. It’s like an alien planet. I mean, what the hell is Oodles?”

Rory frowned. “It’s a sushi chain. Quite popular.”

“And that place?”

Rory glanced at the building and the line outside. “Flip Over?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s a load of trampolines. You go there, and you jump around.” Rory scrunched his face at his explanation. It didn’t do the place justice.

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