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“I never said I was going to ask. You assumed.”

“No, you did. Why else are we here?”

“Lucy, I told you guys I wouldn’t ask him for a handout. Remember? That day at the comic con?”

Lucy crossed her arms, frowning.

“I came here to tell him in person that I wanted to go home. He paid my university tuition. I couldn’t tell him that over the phone or FaceTime. It was the decent thing to do, face-to-face.”

“Wow. I can’t believe I’m hearing this,” said Lucy.

Freddie stepped in. “Hey, shhhh!”

The tattoo artist and her client glared at the trio. Freddie ushered his friends away from the shop’s entrance. They shifted several stalls down and wound up in Pop Boutique, where they could be less conspicuous between the dense racks of secondhand clothes.

“Can we discuss this without involving all of Manchester, please?” asked Freddie.

“So you’re still thinking about running back to Florida?” said Lucy. “Even though your dad wrote you a cheque…so he must think it’s a bad idea, too, right?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.”

“And everything that we’ve done to convince you to stay…was for nothing? Great. I could’ve used that seventy-two quid coach fare to replace my worn out boots or for groceries.”

“Lucy, that’s not nice,” said Freddie.

“Well, she’s being honest. I might as well be honest, too. Shame she wasn’t honest about her intentions before we each forked out seventy-two quid.”

Alex shoved a bunch of vintage dresses along a rack, avoiding eye contact. “I don’t know why you’re taking this so personally. You’re acting like I’m doing this to hurt you. Whatever I decide, it has nothing to do with you, Lucy.”

“And maybe that’s the problem. I thought we were really good friends, best friends, but obviously I think more of our friendship than you do. Alex, for someone who goes on about people abandoning her, it seems like you really have no problem doing it to other people.”

She stormed out of the boutique and down the hall.

“Let her go,” said Freddie. “She’s upset. Let her burn it off. She won’t go far.”

“I know she doesn’t want me to go, but I have to do what’s best for me. You get that, don’t you, Freddie?”

“I do.” He sighed. “But I don’t want you to go, either.”

He held a pinstriped jacket against his chest. “Lucy’s been different since her grandmother died. She’s more sensitive. She doesn’t have anyone except me—and now you. She’d never admit it, but she’s scared to be on her own. You two aren’t that different.

“Yeah, I get it. Being alone’s the worst.”

“I know, but are you really alone? Devin and Taylor might be out of your life, but let’s see…” He counted on his fingers. “…you still have your dad, Helen, Joan, your brother Robbie—they all love you. Who does Lucy have? She has no family left. So maybe you’re not as bad off as you think.”

Alex toyed with the sleeve of the pinstriped jacket. “I never thought of it that way. I always looked at both physical and emotional distance as abandonment.”

“And it is abandonment, Lex. I’m not saying it’s not, but you can still pick up the phone and call your dad or Skype with Robbie. Lucy can’t call her dad. She has no siblings. God knows where her mum is; she hasn’t seen her since she was three. She certainly can’t rely on those hippie freaks living in her flat. You and I are her family. I think that’s why she’s taking your decision so personally.”

He pulled a vintage red smoking jacket from the rack. “I’m not saying you should reconsider to make her happy. I just want you to know where she’s coming from.”

“I know. Sometimes it’s hard to see beyond my own issues. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

Freddie tried on the smoking jacket. He posed in the mirror and turned forty-five-degrees.

“That one looks good,” said Alex.

“The sleeves are almost long enough. I can roll them up.”