The last place took a while to walk to uphill. Past the shops and the market, the narrow streets made of cobbled stone and old buildings, they entered a small park. It looked abandoned. The gate was wide open.

"It's so quiet here. It's unnerving. Does anything ever happen in this town?" he asked. "London is teeming with life."

"Yes, but London is loud and busy. It depressed me. It's peaceful here."

"Wait, you lived in London?"

"Yeah, but I prefer not to talk about it. I prefer it here, let's just leave it at that," she said with a small smile.

"It's very different," Rafe muttered. He wanted to ask more questions about her life in London. This had come as a surprise to him because she never mentioned it before and now would rather not talk about. She was hiding something, and it killed Rafe not to know what it was. He'd definitely ask, just not this time.

Norah shrugged. "I like it this way. When my parents were getting divorced, I yearned for the peace and quiet."

"Are you still in touch with your dad?"

"Yeah from time to time. He has a new family and he's moved to the south of France."

South of France? Rafe had assumed that Norah's family, apart from her mother, were based somewhere in other parts of England.

"And your mum?"

"Yeah, we speak on the phone all the time. She mostly travels, so I don't really see her often. I'm the closest with my grandmother. She's all the family I need right now."

Rafe wanted to say something, but stayed quiet.

Norah shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with the subject. She felt it was too personal. Truth to be told, her relationship with her parents hadn't bothered her that much. At least not as much as Rafe or Benny or her grandmother assumed. Her father was always an absent figure and her mom was always a bit of an airhead. There was nothing to do to change them. As long as they were happy, did it really matter what and how Norah felt?

The heart of the park had a moss-covered fountain and a few benches around it.

"Please tell me this isn't it," Rafe muttered sardonically.

"Come on," Norah said with a sigh as she tugged on his sleeve. She led him up a hill. The pathway had faded and the dirt was sticking to their shoes, which made Rafe scowl deeper.

Through the trees, there was a small, barely visible gap. Gently pushing away the branches, she led him to a small clearing. They were both a bit of out of breath as they climbed the steep hill.

It was a hideout sheltered by endlessly tall trees. There was a small bench and a beautiful panoramic view of the whole town. The rooftops of the houses, neat in rows, and endless green fields made it a peaceful, pastoral scene. The clouds' shadows played across the ground as the last traces of the sun disappeared. You could barely make out the shapes of the farm animals that nibbled on the grass. A few houses and pubs had smoke coming out the chimneys, and the market looked like a small city of lights and music. It was a view Norah never got tired of.

"This is my secret hideout. I come here to think."

"You're always in your thoughts. What the hell do you think about all the time?" Rafe asked, sliding to the right to make space for her, giving the bench a wipe with one of Norah's tissues. Oh god, he was becoming as obsessed with cleaning as her.

"Just stuff. The future, my parents, my grandmother."

"Make some room for me in there, my future depends on you," he said, poking her head.

"You already monopolize enough of my time."

"So you're saying I'm in your thoughts all the time?" Rafe said with a smirk, poking her on the side.

She smacked his hand away with a shy smile. "No. Why are you so self-centered?" Her heart was beating faster. It was true. Rafe, these days, had been occupying her thoughts. A lot.

"Can't believe you would come here to think. This entire town is so quiet; you don't need a secret spot. You need this kind of stuff in a city that never has a quiet moment. Like London."

"Would you just shut up and enjoy the view? I'm never taking you out anywhere again."

Rafe laughed. He put his hands behind his head as he relaxed on the bench and felt the last few rays of the evening sun on his face. "I guess this is kind of nice," he said.

"I used to come here and just scream out my worries and stresses."

"Excuse me?" Rafe asked.

"When I'd get frustrated, I'd just scream it out onto the field and the echo of my voice would just get swallowed up into nothingness."

"So you just screamed here... alone... like a madwoman?"

"Yep."

Rafe shook his head. "I can't imagine you screaming to be honest."

"Here I'll show you." Without a warning she stood up, inhaled a lungful of air and belted out. "I HATE P.E.!"

Rafe almost fell out of the bench. Her clear and piercingly loud voice cut through the silence.

Rafe said something in Italian, doing a rotating movement with his hand next to his head. Norah guessed he called her crazy in his native tongue. "Fuck me. Remind me not to piss you off," he muttered.

"I remind you of that every day. It's your turn," she prompted, as if inviting him onto center stage.

"No. No way."

"I'm telling you, you'll feel better. Think of something that really pisses you off and just shout it out. For the world to hear. It's therapeutic."

Rafe thought about for a moment. "I WANNA GO HOME!" He shouted so hard he almost stumbled backwards. Norah clapped in glee.

"Well done! You see? Don't you feel better already?"

Rafe coughed and grinned. "Yeah. Wait, I have a couple more. MY DAD IS AN ASSHOLE. I HATE SCHOOL. I HAVEN'T HAD SEX IN THREE MONTHS."

The echo of Rafe's deep baritone voice disappeared.

"Shut the fuck up! You scared all the goddamn sheep!" A gruff voice shouted back into the oblivion. It was coming from one of the farms down the hill.

Norah and Rafe looked at each other and burst out laughing. It took them a minute to settle back down. It's been a while since Rafe laughed this much. And she was right, shouting helped. He used to let out his anger by fighting. Screaming, he realised, had a similar effect.

"Let's get some warm cider. My turn to treat," Rafe said, not letting Norah go back home to get homework done.

He didn't want this day to end.