Set During: Mark of the Beserker

Luke tried Clyde's number again. This time the other boy didn't even bother picking up and it went straight to voicemail.

"Who are you?" Clyde had said.

It made Luke feel sick – right to his soul. Rani had told him it was the pendant talking, and while Luke knew this was the rational and logical explanation, for some reason it did little to put his mind at rest.

Had it really been only a few hours ago that Mum had dropped him off at Clyde's for their non-sleepover? To his surprise Clyde had been an exceptionally good cook; while Luke could understand the chemical processes behind cooking, Clyde had told him he would never make Master Chef until he could put some emotion into it: good food was laced with the soul of those who made it.

And while Luke couldn't logically understand how this would alter the flavour, they had still had a laugh chucking spaghetti all over each other and generally making a mess of Carla's kitchen.

And after dinner they had run upstairs and Clyde had proudly shown Luke his bed for the night and Luke had stood there and smiled, while absentmindedly picking at the spaghetti sauce behind his ear.

And long after they had stopped talking, and Luke had thought Clyde had gone to sleep, the other boy had sat up and chucked his pillow down the other end of the bed so when he looked down he could see Luke below him in the semi-darkness.

And then they had whispered about Rani and Maria, and Luke had been surprised to discover that Clyde wasn't harbouring romantic feelings towards either of them.

And just when Luke was beginning to wonder just where this was going, Clyde had slid down off the bed and on-top of Luke, hovering above him on his hands.

And Luke had wished he could see the other boy's eyes through the darkness, but then Clyde's nose had brushed against his. And before he realised what he was doing, Luke had leant up and bridged the gap between them, landing a clumsy kiss on Clyde's lips; all rational thought forgotten.

And somewhere along the way they became a mass of bed clothes and heat until Clyde was tangled in him, his head against the same pillow, lazily making out in the company of a 2am moon.

And just before he had nodded off, Luke could have sworn he heard Clyde whisper "I love you."

But in the here and now Luke could hear Rani's footsteps wandering back up the attic stairs, and he pushed his phone back deep into his pocket.

Maybe that's what heartbreak was – when two people share a moment that only one of them treasures and remembers.