I raised my hand to my eyes from the glare of the sun. It was midday and the air was hot and heavy but I felt cool metal cradling me. Propping myself up on my elbow, I found myself on a park bench. Where the hell was I? I swung my legs onto the pavement. This didn't look like any part of South Dutton I had been to recently, but it was vaguely familiar. I stretched and gathered my hair to one side. I had fallen asleep at a bus stop. This must be it. This must be rock bottom. I had been evicted and here, I was stranded.

But Loki? Where had he gotten to? Don't be daft, Paton. You're poor, homeless and a terrible cook. He must've found someone better to live with. It was probably true.

I was about to walk into the road when a car horn startled me. I leapt back as a sleek Ford Mondeo pulled up. The window rolled down and a girl with honey-blonde hair peered up at me from the wheel.
"You alright?" She asked.
My heart lurched at the hazel eyes searched me, the pouty rose-coloured lips set themselves in a slant and the O-letter pendant that hung around the swan-like neck.
"You alright?" She repeated.
I coughed, "Yes, I'm fine. Sorry."
"You look a little lost. Can I give you a lift?"
I found myself nodding, just wanting to crawl into the passenger seat, so I could stare at the side of her face.
"Hop in!" She beamed, unlocking the door on the other side. I ran over, pulling it open and sitting down. "You're a keen hitchhiker, aren't you? Didn't your mother ever tell you not to take rides from strangers?"
"Didn't yours tell you not to give them rides?"
She raised her eyebrows at me and I felt my face flush. Then she burst out laughing, a laugh like tinkling glass. "Touché!"
She rolled up her window and turned the radio down. It was at Channel 7, for the news.
"So where are you headed?" She asked me.
"The train station," I answered on impulse.
"Without any baggage?"
I looked at my feet.
"My mother warned me about drifters like you," she said genially.
"Oh, no, I'm picking someone up."
"Really, now?"
"Yes, my cousin from Svalbard."
She looked visibly impressed, "Interesting. My ex-boyfriend was from Svalbard."
"I know."
"What?"
"I mean, I know a lot of people from there."
"Train station's a little while from my house, I could drop you, but there are some things I have to take care of first," she gestured at the backseat.
There was a bouquet and two boxes of chocolates.
"My parents' anniversary," she explained. "I'll only be a few minutes, is that alright?"
Anything was alright, as long as I had a few more moments of just watching her, and maybe, if she let me, just touching her cheek one more time.
"The name's Olivia, by the way."
"Paton," I said, regretting it immediately.
"You don't say? I've got a little sister called Paton."
"H-how old is she?"
"Brat's almost sixteen by now, I think."
I laughed, looking out the window. The streets were coming back to me now. This is where we grew up. Where we lived for ten years.
"She hates when I get her age wrong, you know. Got any sisters?"
"Just one."
We drove past the retired General Kent's house with its sharp edges and cream coloured walls. We drove past Mrs Amundsen's, where the garden was in full bloom and she was at work at her tulips. The young Englishman who was having afternoon tea in his yard. The twins who played basketball night and day. Mr Paulson, who was potty-training his Doberman puppy. And then the finely trimmed hedges of the last house on the street. There was a jungle-gym in the back, you could see it poking out from the side of the house. The windows had all just been painted blue, because that made them cheerier. There was a fresh pie on the kitchen window sill.
"Would you like to come in for a drink?" Olivia asked me, pulling into the drive.
I saw the silhouette of a man at the living room couch-set, reading the morning paper. I hesitated, "I don't want to impose."
"It's no trouble at all. Mom bakes incessantly, just in case we have visitors. Come on!"
I got out of the car and my legs felt like they were made of lead. I followed Olivia, who was dressed in her favourite summer frock, up the porch and into the hallway, which was hung with portraits she had made in charcoal. I waited by the stairs, terrified at the familiarity of things, and heard voices from the living room.
"Happy Anniversary, you two!"
"Oh, sweetie, you shouldn't have."
"Look at that, May, buying us presents with her own paycheck. You do us proud, baby girl."
I was distracted from the niceties by someone coming down the stairs. The young girl walked silently past me and into the living room.
"Mom, Dad, I made you this."
"What is it, Paton?"
"It's a carving, of us all. I made it with dough."
"Oh honey, no, now the ants will get into it."
"Paton, I've told you not to go messing around the stores, haven't I?"
I inched closer, even though I knew how all this would end.
"Oh, Mom," I heard Olivia say. "I can't stay long; I have to drop a friend to the station, so I'll see you for dinner, alright?"
I was breaking into a sweat, I felt like I was melting into the walls. I was. I had disappeared, moving freely through the wood and wires and brick and pipes. I was the eyes and ears of the house. I was standing in my room, by the window. A door slammed behind me. 15-year-old Paton had thrown herself onto the bed and was angrily scribbling into a journal. I stayed by the window, watching Olivia, and the stranger she had given a ride to, get back into the car. It had just fully backed up into the street when I noticed the moving van at the end of the street. The front wheel was punctured and it was swerving out of control as it took a sharp turn. I shut my eyes as the sickening crunch of metal filled my head and my body and echoed through my entire universe.

My eyes flew open, my eyelashes heavy with the tears that were streaking my face. I was at Riverside. This was here and now. I wiped my eyes and kicked off the blankets. When I sat myself up, I notice Loki sitting on the edge of the coffee-table that I had moved to the wall the previous night. He wore a grim expression as he continued to study me. I felt weak and vulnerable and I just wanted to curl up and cry, but there he was, seated in front of me, watching me like a hawk.
"What do you want?" I snapped at him.
"Your boss called just now. He said he wants to see you in person."