Nathan settled onto his back and shifted about until he found a spot that wasn't too uncomfortable.

  I followed his lead, and laid down and faced the tent ceiling.

  The mixture of feeling safe with me around, and the heat radiating from my body must have been a double-whammy for Nathan.

  Whilst he didn't sleep, his breathing slowed, and he moved very little.

  The rain grew heavier, and for about an hour neither of us spoke. Nathan was the first to speak again, and when we did start talking again we spoke in hushed whispers like we were having a sleepover.

  "Burgess?" said Nathan.

  "Yeah?" I mumbled.

  "It's two weeks until Halloween," said Nathan.

  "It is?" I said.

  "Yeah," said Nathan, "Man, I really hope I can be home with my family by Christmas."

  My heart sank.

  "Don't," I said, "It hurts to even think about."

  "If you're worried about going home any time soon," said Nathan, "I could check in on your family first if you want?"

  "Really?" I said, "I was planning on going to see them soon. But maybe you going to see them first would be safer."

  "I'll go tomorrow after I've had breakfast at the church," said Nathan.

  "Thank you," I said, "I really appreciate it."

  Nathan's shadow inside the tent grew as he sat upright.

  "Burgess?" said Nathan.

  "Yeah?" I said.

  "You do realise that if you keep using your power, you're not going to be able to see your family on a regular basis again, right?" he said.

  "I don't really want to think about it," I said.

  "But you can't ignore it, man," said Nathan, "Does using the power to help people really mean so much to you that you're willing to give up seeing your Mum?" said Nathan.

  I didn't have an answer to this question.

  "You don't have to prove anything to anyone," said Nathan.

  "I told you," I said, "It's not about me."

  "If you really believed that, you wouldn't use the power," said Nathan, "You would be okay with being a normal person."

  "Not once in my life have I ever felt normal," I said.

  And then, I added, "I just never felt special."

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  "Is that what this is all about?" said Nathan, "You want everyone to see how amazing you are?"

  I shook my head.

  "No," I said, "I just…I just want my life to mean something."

  "It already does," said Nathan, stressing each word, "You are enough as you are. Before this Mice Power. Back when you were just Burgess. Even now, you're enough. You don't need to put yourself through Hell again and again to find your selfworth."

  "Haven't you ever wanted to be great?" I said, "To go the distance and show the world that you're not just a nobody?"

  "Sure," said Nathan, "But I'm perfectly fine with being a nobody."

  "Really?" I said, "You would be fine going your whole life without having achieved anything of significance?"

  "Oh, I want to achieve something with my life," said Nathan, "But I want to do it on my own terms."

  There was a shift in his voice then, when he said, "I want to do something that helps people too."

  "Like what?" I said.

  "I don't know yet," said Nathan, "But I'm going to try and find something that will let me make a difference."

  "Use the power," I said.

  And then I added, "Assuming you even have it, I mean."

  "Burgess," said Nathan, "Remember the last time I told you not to do something, and then you did it, and it caused you a lot of trouble?"

  "Yes," I said, forcing a bit of humour into my tone.

  I sat upright, into a cross-legged position, mirroring Nathan.

  "I was right before, wasn't I?" said Nathan, "About not going along with the evacuation?"

  "Yeah," I said.

  "So maybe I'll be right this time too?" said Nathan.

  He held his hands out, as if to show two paths which could be taken.

  He raised his right hand, and said, "I'm going this way – which means no power, no trying to save the world, and it means being okay with being a nobody. My way means hopefully getting to spend Christmas with my family, and, if I can manage it, finding a way forward in life that's about accepting things as they are. Because, and I think this is the plainest I can say it, mate: the only way to preserve your own integrity is to tell the world to sod off and to have the humility to not try to impose your will over others."

  Nathan raised his other hand, "The road you'll be going down, if you don't stop right now, is the road that dictators go down. It's a road for people that think they're acting in the name of the greater good, when really they're just serving their own impulses. It's the same road the likes of Robert and Abigail Hoffman have taken. It's a road for megalomaniac fascists. Because every villain believes they're the hero in their own story, and that the ends justify the means."

  "So," I said, "If I'm understanding correctly. You're saying that if I continue using this power, and keep trying to be a hero, then one day I'll become the villain?"

  Nathan, with all seriousness, slowly nodded.

  "You're so intent on wanting to save people," said Nathan, "When really I think the only person you're really trying to save is yourself."

  I listened to everything Nathan had just said, each word and syllable etching itself into my brain.

  I smiled tiredly.

  "You're right," I said, "I don't really have an argument against anything you just said."

  "But?" said Nathan.

  "I just can't follow your path," I said, "I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe I'm broken. Maybe I am a villain in the making. I just can't do it your way. I'm not strong enough."

  "Please," said Nathan, "If not for yourself. But for me. For our friendship. For your family. For your Mum."

  I just kept shaking my head, and though I tried to speak the best I could manage was a soundless, "I can't."

  "Well I'll be waiting," said Nathan, "Whenever you're ready to turn back."

  "You're going to have to live the better path," I said, "Because I can't take it. I think people like me must be born stupid, or something."

  Nathan, though quite clearly gripped with sadness and sympathy, laughed just a little.

  "Okay," he said, "If that's what you want to do, then although I don't agree – you can always call me up. Wherever, whenever. I'm here for you, mate."

  "It'll be too dangerous to keep regular contact," I said.

  "I don't care," said Nathan, "I'd rather die than give up on my best friend."

  Fresh tears stung my eyes. I wiped them away.

  "Okay," I said, "You can win that one, at least."

  "Damn right," said Nathan.

  And then, after exhaling a long, ragged breath, he said, "So tell me more about this girl…whose a friend…of yours. Miss Snaptastic, wasn't it?"

  I chuckled.

  All talk about which path to take had come to a close. He had long since already made his decision, and I had just committed to mine. So, naturally, conversation shifted to girls.