"You don't have anything to worry about," Kieren says. When he speaks it, he knows it's the truth. He's spent long nights awake thinking of what would happen if suddenly Rick turned up here out of the blue. "I said goodbye to Rick three times over now," he admits. "My heart can't take another crack from him. I'd want to be his friend, of course, but I wouldn't leave you."

"Not for Rick, not for Simon."