That night, Vince had sat awake, cross legged in the middle of the bed until he had been sure that Cheryl and Nick were asleep. When the house had fallen silent he'd slid quietly off the covers and had grabbed a flashlight from his draw. He'd crept downstairs into the kitchen, to pick up his bag, before disappearing out the back door.

It hadn't taken long for Vince to get there, at least it hadn't felt like long, but he had been so angry that he'd become completely oblivious to time. He'd soon come to the large iron gates and had looked for a way to break in. There had been a hedge near the entrance, which he'd decided he could push his way through. The hedge had been very wide and the branches had been very sharp. They'd scraped along his back. They'd ripped into his t-shirt. They'd jabbed him in the face. But he had been so high on angry adrenaline that he didn't feel any pain and any common sense seemed to have seeped out of him. So he had pushed on. When he'd emerged on the other side he had been covered with bruises and tiny cuts and his hair had been full of leaves but he hadn't cared. He'd been too focused on the goal. Nothing was going to stop him that night.

Vince had flicked on the flashlight and had strained his eyes in the darkness looking for the green hut where he lived. He had known he lived there, Howard had said. Howard had spoken about him a lot on their walk home and Vince had hated it. Vince had always known what happened when people meet new friends; they got rid of their old ones. Just like his mum had, when she'd had her new child; she'd got rid of her old one, the one she was bored with. He hadn't wanted Howard to become bored with him. Howard had been his favourite play thing, and deep down Vince liked the gullible geek. Even though he'd only known him a day, he'd felt closer to Howard than anyone else he'd ever met since he'd been taken in to care.

The small boy had walked around the zoo, fearlessly exploring the places marked 'staff only' until he'd found the green hut. It had looked small and cramped. It had had horrible flowery curtains and a wooden floor, wooden walls , the whole thing was made of wood.

"Perfect." Vince had sneered to himself before opening up his bag and reaching inside. He had pulled out a box of matches and had lit one, then a second, then a third (just to be sure) and had held them against the hut until the large shed had caught alight.

Vince had stepped back to admire his work. He'd watched the flames lick at the windows and uncurling up the walls. He'd watched the smoke billowing up into the dark sky. It had seemed to Vince as though the smoke and fire were dancing; bright and beautifully destructive. Vince had watched it carefully and grinned, to him it had been more wondrous than a sunrise.

Suddenly, the door of the hut had burst open and Vince had jumped violently as Tommy had emerged from the smoke coughing and spluttering. Tommy had looked up and seen Vince stood rooted to the spot and had charged towards him shouting

"Oi you. What do you think you're doing?"

Vince had thought quickly, he always had when it came to avoiding getting caught. He had looked around and he'd seen an open double door. As an unsuspecting Tommy had closed in on him Vince had shoved the running man through the double door (which seemed to lead to a large forest) with unexplainable ease and had slammed the door shut. He had locked it quickly and had run away before anyone else had noticed the fire.

Vince had arrived back at Cheryl and Nick's house and had flopped onto his bed his heart pounding furiously in his chest. Then, with no warning, he began to laugh hysterically. He laughed and laughed until his stomach had hurt and his cheeks had ached. Then he had slid under his covers and had fallen into a peaceful sleep. He'd dreamt of life without Tommy. Howard wouldn't have been able to spend stupid amounts of time talking to or about him. The deed had been done. Life would've been good.

In the early hours of the next morning, the police had arrived at Cheryl and Nick's house with Vince's black bag in their hand's. In seemed that in Vince's haste to get away he'd forgotten about it. He'd been taken to the police station and cautioned. They had spoken to him for what felt like hours about the possible consequences of his actions and he listened to everything the police had said. When they had finished he'd waited patiently for Cheryl or Nick to come and pick him up and take him home - but they had never arrived.

Instead, a stern looking woman had appeared to take him back to the home. It seemed that Cheryl and Nick, on seeing the police on their doorstep, had decided that they couldn't cope with this delinquent of a foster child.

"Can I go and say goodbye?" Vince had asked when the woman had bundled him in to the back seat of the car.

"To be honest, I'm not sure Nick or Cheryl want to see you."

'Typical' Vince thought 'No one likes me. No one ever want's me around, except…Howard.'

"Not to them, you daft cow! I wanna say goodbye to Howard."

"No Vince, you can't we've got to go now." and then noticing the disappointed look on the boys face, she added "I'm sorry Vincent, but you do bring it on yourself."

It was at that moment, as he was driven away from another wasted opportunity at family life, that Vince Noir had made a promise to himself; he was going to change. From that moment on he was going to make himself liked. He'd be popular, loved by everyone. Everyone would like him, everyone would want to be friends with him, most people would want to be him. He'd do anything it took, everything it took. People would like him.