Rachel and Darren returned within half an hour of each other. Rachel had only just settled onto the sofa with a folder of marking to keep Jayden company in his workload before the grumble of the car engine and high-pitched squeak of the handbrake signalled Darren’s return. He appeared looking tired and ruffled, slammed the flat door, dropped his bag, and locked himself in the bathroom.
“Um…” Jayden said.
“He’s always like that,” Rachel said.
“Well…” Jayden hesitated. “He wasn’t.”
“Yeah, but he’s working now, and one of his instructors is an arsehole, and he’s been tired a lot lately.”
Jayden frowned. “Tired?”
“Yeah, he’s sleeping ten hours a night if he can,” Rachel said, tucking a sheet of scrawled spelling back into her folder and extracted another.
“…Ten…” Jayden glanced at the c
