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“One day at a time, right?”

“Hour by hour, one day at a time,” I repeat.

He takes one hand from the steering wheel and reaches for mine, giving it a quick squeeze before returning to the wheel.

The silence falls between us, but it’s comfortable. We listen to the directions of the satnav until it announces a final turn, onto the main street of this village, where the shops are located.

Maddie stands against the window of the main shop. She looks cold in a pair of tight jeans and vest top, no jacket. Her hands are stuffed into the pockets of her jeans.

Joseph pulls the car to a stop outside the shop. Maddie peers into the car, a little frown on her face, like she’s deciding if we’re friend or foe. I wind my window down.

“Your taxi has arrived, you little runway,” I call, opting for a bit of humour rather than the fury I have that she’s out by herself, poorly dressed, risking her health and safety.

She laughs and runs to the car, getting into the back. She straps herself in, and Joseph updates the satnav for Verity’s house. I note he’s logged her address already, listing it as “Maddie’s place,” which makes me smile, before I turn my attention back to Maddie as she takes a deep breath.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she announces.

“You know that’s not the way this works, right?” I shoot back.

“I don’t want a lecture.”

“I’m not going to give you one if you give up that attitude.”

“Fine. One of my friends was having a party. She’s been asking for ages if I could go, but Mum had said no, that there would be too many people and I needed to look after myself. But I do look after myself! I just wanted to feel normal because I’m sick of missing out on things. I’ve missed parties and trips to the cinema, school trips, everything! So, I told Mum I was going to bed. I put all my pillows and teddies under the covers so she wouldn’t see, and I snuck out of the house. I met my friends, and we walked together to the party. It was fine! I was having fun. Then this boy….”

“What about a boy?” I ask when she trails off. I’m already planning how I’ll punish a boy if they hurt her. I never went to parties as a teenager, but I have heard stories, that maybe they’re unsupervised, get out of control, even have underage drinking.

“I like him, and I thought he liked me. One of my friends knows I like him, but she still kissed him! It was so embarrassing and mean. I would never kiss a boy she liked. So, I told her I wanted to go home, and she told me she didn’t want to leave, because I know she wanted to see if he would kiss her again. She told me to stop being a little baby, so I left, but then I didn’t want to walk home by myself in the dark, so I called you,” she concludes.

“Well, I am glad you called me, but you do realise how dangerous this all was?” I ask.

“I was fine. I’m just annoyed with my friend.”

“I know you don’t like the idea that we’re treating you like a baby, but you shouldn’t have snuck out of the house. You know that, right? I don’t like the idea of you walking through the town by yourself,” I tell her.

“I wasn’t going to wait for my friend to pay attention to me,” she scoffs.

“Just promise me you won’t sneak out of the house again. Please.”

“I bet you snuck out of the house when you were my age.”

I fall silent because I’ve never told Maddie the full and gory details about how life was when I was her age, and I hope I never have to. She knows my home life was poor, that I didn’t have a loving mother. I didn’t wander the streets at her age, though; that came much later. When I was her age, I was more likely to go to Felix’s house for tea, to loiter when it came to the evening, waiting to be invited to stay so I didn’t have to go home and see whatever state my mother was in.

“I snuck out a few times,” Joseph says, breaking the silence.

“You did?” Maddie asks.

“Yeah, I did the same as you. I went to parties I wasn’t allowed to go to. Sometimes I would leave and sneak back in, and sometimes I’d lie and say I was staying at a friend’s house, and they’d say they were staying at mine, and we’d just go to parties and things our parents would have said no to,” Joseph explains.

“Don’t give her ideas,” I scold.

“I do feel bad about how it worried my mother,” he adds.

Maddie falls into a silence. I look back at her, and she looks like she’s pondering what he’s said to her. My phone beeps, and I check the message, seeing a reply from Verity, confirming she’s awake and waiting for Maddie to return home.

“What else did you get up to when you were my age?” Maddie asks after a short silence.

Joseph chuckles. I watch him glance at her through the rear-view mirror, and he smiles before launching into telling her stories about his teenage years. He tells her about his friends and the things they liked to do, the places he went and the fun they had. I settle back in my seat, listening to him talk, to her questions and curious tone. I listen to things Joseph told me, years ago, and things I haven’t heard before.