Joey swears he sees an angel every time he’s over Shane’s. It’s not the drugs messing with his head either. The angel is always hiding behind the corner, giving him a small piece of light in the darkness he consumes himself in. The angel makes soft humming noises when he passes by a room that Shane says no one’s allowed in. The angel, who’s real, who’s Shane’s younger sibling, went running up the stairs, weeping softly and shutting the world out with a slam of your bedroom door.

Joey should leave it. He shouldn’t get more mixed up in the Holland’s than he already is. He should go home, but then that’d be delving deeper into another world of darkness.

His craving for you is bigger than his craving for the stuff he injects into his veins. Thus, he murmurs he’s off to the loo to Shane and his buddies when actually he arrives in front of your bedroom, slightly shaky hands knocking gently.

He doesn’t understand why he hasn’t seen you around. You’re the same age as him, so why have you suddenly become his guardian angel?