Every day after school, Lumaira visited Even in the hospital. And every day, the dead boy was a little healthier, looked a little stronger, came a little closer to almost smiling. Rennie was still being a little stubbornly sullen, but Lumaira invited her around every night until he was just about ready to pass out in class the next morning. And so on Saturday, finally, Even was ready to go home. There were still a few problems with whether or not Even was Even or whether Even was even alive, but somehow Naminé convinced the managers that there must have been some kind of mistake - this was obviously Even; all of his details matched perfectly - and it looked like they'd just discretely changed the record and sent him on his way.

Naminé assured Lumaira that it was best that way; he was beginning to think that her viewpoint was the same as his - neither of them knew or understood the truth, so the best thing to do right now was to just deal with the consequences without trying too hard to make sense of the cause. So Even was bundled into Lumaira's bed and Lumaira into Naminé's bed, who he shared with his mother whenever their sleeping patterns overlapped. It wasn't like it bothered either of them; as a two person family, they had always been very close. There was something nostalgic, Lumaira thought, about waking up early one morning to feel Naminé crawling into the other side of the bed and rolling over to give her a sleepy hug. They'd always leaned on each other, and when Lumaira was young Naminé had occasionally woken him up just to hold him close and weep into his shoulder, and of course when the nightmares were too scary he'd take this week's favourite teddy bear into his Mummy's room and snuggle up with her and feel safe.
Not much was really happening. And that worried Lumaira.

"I have an idea."

Even had been pouring over Lumaira's school books with honest-to-goodness fascination ever since he'd got home, but... not much else. And Lumaira was desperate to see some kind of material improvement in Even's state so he'd come up with a brilliant plan to get him out and about and hopefully, all being well, smiling.

Even looked up from the book he'd been reading and immediately pulled his glasses off. Lumaira smiled a little at his squinting face, and gently put them back on.

"You need those."

"I look awful."

"You look fine," Lumaira promised, subconsciously thumbing Even's cheek a little as though to console him more. His skin was still rough but to his credit he was exactly the same as any other fifteen year old boy.

"You can't think that," Even insisted without conviction. Lumaira wanted to lean over and kiss his cheek, because actually he did think that, but that sort of thing was probably best reserved for close friends and family.

"I wouldn't lie to you," He promised instead, coming over to sit next to Even on the sofa. "But anyway, I've got an idea."

"So you said."

"Well," Lumaira began, "I think that we should go somewhere now that you're feeling better. And since it's Saturday, I thought we could-"

"You'll be happier with L'Erena," Even interrupted. Lumaira sighed.

"No, I won't. Because I'll be sick with worry about you."

To this, Even had no cutting reply, so Lumaira continued.

"So I think we should go out somewhere. If it's okay with you, I could invite Rennie too. But we could go to the aquarium up in town, or the zoo, or something."

"I'd rather go somewhere where there aren't people," Even admitted. Lumaira considered this and thought it was fair enough. Those bandages still around his arms were suspicious anyway, and if Even was uncomfortable around one person then in a crowd he'd be even worse.

"Okay. Well, there's a nature reserve nearby here. We could get the bus and take a picnic or something? How does that sound?"

"I don't know," Even said miserably. "I don't know."

Lumaira pulled him into a hug and stroked the back of his head until his tense muscles relaxed a little.

"How about we just go. And if you don't feel very good about that we can come home again."

Even nodded against Lumaira's shoulder, but didn't immediately move.

"It's really hard," He eventually said. "To keep going."

"You can't give up," Lumaira stubbornly replied, ignoring the sudden flare of fear in his gut.

"It's not like that." Even whispered. "It's like... I just feel stuck. I couldn't... I couldn't kill myself again. I don't even know if it would work. But I don't have the energy to keep going on living either. I just feel so apathetic about everything."

Lumaira, who'd always tended towards over enthusiasm, didn't really understand - but he gave Even his best sympathetic look anyway.

"It's only temporary," He promised. "Come on, let's go out and do something. It'll help."

Even cast him a doubtful glance, but eventually he heaved the heavy textbook from his lap and hauled himself to his feet.

"Would you feel a bit better if Rennie came with us?" Lumaira asked as they made their way into the kitchen, then quickly corrected himself. "I mean, would you at least not feel too much worse?"

"You might as well invite her and save today from being too dull," Even replied sullenly. Lumaira sighed, pulling bread and lunch meats out to make sandwiches. Even just didn't get it, did he. He just hung around in the doorway like he wasn't wanted when he was, acted like Lumaira was only doing this because he felt guilty and not because Even truly did deserve better than what he'd got.

Eventually, though, he seemed to simply feel too awkward and gestured to the hallway.

"I'll just go change my bandages."

"Okay."

Lumaira finished the sandwiches and packed them up, then called Rennie, in good time and as soon as he'd pulled his shoes on he scrambled up the stairs to collect Even.

"Hey, Even? You in there?"

The bathroom door was ajar and Lumaira carefully pushed it open, fearing the worst - but there was no blood to speak of. Even was teetering on the edge of the bath, staring at his bared arms. Lumaira had seen the wounds too many times, but the skin here was as smooth as his own. There wasn't a single mark anywhere.

"That makes no sense," Even finally managed. That was the understatement of the century, Lumaira thought as he sat next to the other boy and gently ran his fingers across Even's wrists. Were it possible, this made negative sense. "I thought they were healing well, but..."

Lumaira was tempted to say that this way, Even wouldn't need to worry about scars - but that seemed rather crass, so he just wrapped a companionable arm around the taller boy.

"It must be related to, you know, everything."

"Yeah," Even said quietly. "I know."

"Anyway," Lumaira persisted brightly in a futile attempt to cheer Even up, "This is really good! You, uh, well, it's one less thing to worry about, at any rate."

"If anything, I'm worrying more," Even replied blankly, standing up and apparently oblivious to the knock on effect of Lumaira very nearly toppling into the bath. "Wounds don't just disappear. People don't just come back to life. This is stupid. All of this has to be a dream, there's no way that this could be happening to me."

"I think it's a miracle," Lumaira admitted.

"A miracle? Don't make me laugh!" Even scoffed. "This is horrendous. Haven't you even thought about the implications of this? This ruins every rule of physics there is! I've just proved science wrong, and you think that's a good thing? Are you stupid? If these cuts healed so quickly, what happens if I get hurt again? What if I die again, only to come back to life? What if I can't actually die?"

Lumaira, who'd if anything not expected that outburst, simply sat in stunned and awkward silence. So Even continued.

"And if anybody finds out about this - what then? The hospital's going to be asking questions, anybody who used to know me is going to ask questions. You can't go bluffing and lying forever! What if they take me away to experiment on me, what then? I'm a freak, Lumaira, how could you possibly call that a miracle?"

Lumaira realised that tears were pressing at the corners of his eyes, and knowing that it was only a matter of time before the spilled down his cheeks, he stood and grabbed a crushing hold of Even.

"I won't let anybody take you away," He promised fiercely, pressing his face to the crook of the blonde boy's neck. "I don't care what anybody else says, you came back for a reason and I'm not going to give up on you now."

"You're not making any sense either," Even huffed. But he didn't push Lumaira away, at the very least.

"I never make sense."

"No. No, you don't."

In fact, it was eventually Lumaira who broke the embrace, tugging on Even's hand to lead him downstairs.

"Come on, let's just go. We're meeting Rennie at the bus stop and if we're going to get there in time for the five past bus, we'll have to hurry."

Bumbling about with menial, everyday business like recalling bus times consoled Lumaira a little as he passed Even his shoes and wriggled into his backpack. It was pink, a flowery thing that Rennie had bought him years ago and had never quite fallen apart. Lumaira loved it to pieces.

"C'mon."

Even followed him silently out of the house into the shiny front garden. The weather was brilliant, warm and still with the sun spangling gaily in the sky and fluffy, harmless clouds drifting lazily across its path. Lumaira stretched until his back clicked and smiled at Even who seemed to beattempting to stand in the single patch of dampened shade on the paving and looking miserable.

"Cheer up," He said, "It's a wonderful day. And we're going to go and have fun."

"Fun," Even echoed, like he was learning a new word. "Right."

Lumaira bit back a laugh and took his hand all the way to dash for the bus and catch it in time, then find a seat at the back with L'Erena. They reached the park in good time, and thanking the driver Lumaira helped Even off the bus and through the tall gates into rolling fields beyond. Lumaira knew the way past grazing pasture and into long meadows that made Even sneeze, down a valley of limestone paving and up against the sloping bank of a pretty stream. It took them all the way to to midday before they settled down, Lumaira throwing off his backpack and stretching out in the sun with a contented sigh.

"I love this place."

L'Erena was already raiding the backpack for food as Lumaira reached up behind him to pull Even down to sit with him. The boy looked determined to be saturnine all day, and was finding it hard to succeed as Lumaira passed him crisps and sandwich and smiled amiably at him from the ground.

"We should play a game," He said as they made their way through the chocolate bars and apples and bottles of squash. Well, mostly him and Rennie; Even had nibbled at a sandwich and then an apple, and wondered how the other two could eat so much. L'Erena had made a joke about appetites and dead people which was entirely inappropriate, but for once Even seemed to let it slide.

"What, and vomit back up our lunch?" L'Erena scoffed.

"Well, after we've let it go down a bit."

"Sometimes I wonder what trouble you'd get yourself into without me," L'Erena laughed, reaching over Even who'd found the book Lumaira had tucked into the front pocket of his bag to dig out the last Kit Kat.

Lumaira discretely pointed at Even. He was too immersed in words to notice.

"I thought you knew."

"Point taken."

"I'm going to go paddle in the stream."

"Don't get eaten by leeches again!"

"Even, coming with me?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

"Please?"

"Oh. Fine."

Lumaira grinned as he pulled off his shoes and threw them at L'Erena then carefully rolled up his trousers as Even did the same, then made his way up to the fjord in the stream where it widened for cars to drive through. He carefully picked through the rocks until the water lapped around his feet, then helped Even in.

"I'm not as delicate as you think I am, you know," The blonde huffed at Lumaira's display of careful attention. Lumaira giggled.

"You're not the only one who might fall over."

"Again!" Came the gleeful call from L'Erena on the bank. She'd picked the book up and was flicking through it, disinterested. It was one of those romance novels that Lumaira loved, with words that were never more than four syllables long and plots that even he could understand. L'Erena preferred horror, thick and macabre with blood and guts and a culprit you never discovered until the last page. Lumaira stuck her tongue out at her, and even managed to elicit a bit of a laugh from Even. It was an odd dance they were choreographing on tiptoes as they ducked under the stone bridge and splashed into the deeper water downstream, hands locked tightly together because it was easier to balance with four feet instead of two. Then Even spotted a fish and they were dead still waiting for another shimmer of tiny scales - there! And there! Once Lumaira had spotted one there were dozens, each barely an inch long, swimming around their toes.

"That's amazing," He breathed, leaning over for a closer look - but his shadow scared them away. Frowning, he instead reached into the water to pluck up a flat, rounded pebble. "Hey, Even. You ever skimmed pebbles?"
Even shook his head.

"I've never even paddled before."

Hearing commotion, L'Erena had come over with her own shoes left on the bank, laughing.

"God, you're deprived. No wonder you killed yourself."

"Rennie's amazing at skimming," Lumaira quickly asserted before anybody could dwell on that blunt comment, passing her the stone he'd found and picking his way over to stack up more on the bridge. Even joined him, sitting down on the bank to watch, with his feet still in the cool, tinkling water.

"See?" Lumaira whispered once the pile was sufficiently tall, coming over to sit next to Even. "This is fun, isn't it?"

L'Erena had already sent the first pebble bouncing over the water and was eyeing up the flat surface of the stream for the second.

"Her record's fourteen," Lumaira boasted. "As for me, I did four, once."

Even was watching the procedure with a calculative eyes, and once he'd apparently determined the physics behind the stone's inexplicable leaps, sat back.

"Better than nothing."

Lumaira reached up to pull one stone from the bridge.

"You have a go."

"Okay."

Even waded out to stand next to Lumaira, squinting at her for a moment or two before he leaned down and sent his pebble on its way. It plinked over the water seven times before sinking with a heavy plop. Lumaira clapped from the bank.

"Better than I ever did!"

"You're just shit at everything," L'Erena laughed, splashing recklessly over to plonk herself in the flattened grass where Even had been sitting.

"Am not!"

"You throw like a girl, you catch like a girl, you scream like a girl..."

"Yeah, well you throw and catch like a boy."

"You're also terrible at insults. You're such a moron."

Their banter left Even standing a little bemused in the middle of the stream, the rolled hems his trousers hanging around his knobbly knees and hands lying by his sides. He watched the two friends for a few minutes, then dropped his gaze to inspect the bed of the stream through the clear, sparkling water.

"You know, he's not actually that bad," L'Erena mused after she caught Lumaira watching the lone boy. He smiled a little.

"I told you so. Now we just have to convince him that."

Even had squatted down to squint at the water, his bottom rather ungracefully in the air and his fingertips brushing the surface of the stream. Lumaira found it kind of adorable, so he stood and skittered along the bank, not risking the water in case he scared the fish away again.

"Watcha looking at?"

"I wish I'd brought my glasses."

"We can come up here again soon," Lumaira promised, paddling over to Even and leaning down just the same. "You know, somebody made a swing a little way downstream. We can walk there from here in the water."

He straightened out and took Even's hand again, hoping that Even didn't realise that he wasn't only holding it to help the other boy balance. L'Erena dutifully collected up his bag and its contents, stuffing it all inside and slinging it over Lumaira's shoulders, carrying all of their shoes in her arms as she joined them in the cool water. The last of the clouds had dispersed and the sun was beating steadily down on their backs, and were it not for the babbling stream around his legs Lumaira felt like he'd over heat. They paused for a bit under the shade of a hanging willow tree where the stream began to meander to strip off T shirts and slather on generous amounts of sun cream. Even seemed fairly comprehensively embarrassed about seeing L'Erena's bra, but Lumaira reassured him that this was perfectly acceptable because Rennie was an exhibitionist and of course it was exactly the same as seeing Lumaira topless - which, according to Even, wasn't okay either. But he was outvoted two to one and didn't have much of a say in the matter.

And of course, Lumaira wasn't disappointed at all that Even chose to keep all of his clothes on.

They reached the swing over the stream some time in the middle of the afternoon where L'Erena and Lumaira splashed each other in the water and Even decided to sit on the grass and dry out his feet.

"Hey, Even, want to go on the swing?"

"No thanks. It doesn't look safe anyway."

"That's the whole point! If you fall off, all you go into is the stream-"

"I don't want to get wet."

"Fine."

Lumaira sort of understood when he actually did fall off and soak his clothes, then had to walk back to the entrance of the park with his trousers rubbing uncomfortably at his crotch. At least his T shirt and shoes were dry, though, which was enough to keep him happy as they boarded the bus and he tried not to make too much of a wet patch on his seat. L'Erena teased him relentlessly - until he sat on her lap.

Finally they arrived at their stop and bumbled off, sorting themselves out as the bus pulled away.

"That was good," L'Erena eventually declared once she'd pulled all of her things out of Lumaira's bag and awkwardly hugged him in an attempt to contract as little of his dampness as possible. "We should do something again, us three. Maybe go down to the beach at half term."
"Yeah. See you on Monday."

"My Dad wants help with a delivery garage tomorrow, wanna join me?"

"I dunno, I'll ask Mum. She might need housework done."

"Kay. See you whenever, then. Ciao!"

L'Erena turned to make her way down the road, back up where the bus had come. Lumaira grinned, walking backwards to talk to Even.

"See? Wasn't that fun? And Rennie wants to go again. With us. And that includes you."

Even shrugged a little, but he was smiling, and Lumaira laughed a truthfully happy laugh as he skipped backwards into the road.