He was hit hard by his parents' separation.
It turned out his little family holiday was a last ditch attempt of reconciliation between his mother and father, and if that didn't work, it would be the last time they'd all be somewhere as a happy, nuclear family.
It didn't work.
He told me all this during the night he spent at my house when he returned. He always got philosophical and deep after midnight, sometimes it was funny to hear him question the meaning of life, sprawled across my bed.
That night, however, he broke down and told me everything from his parents fighting to his little brother being bullied at school. I couldn't help being a little offended he didn't tell me earlier, I felt so guilty that I couldn't have been there for him, but I know that he has a right to have secrets, as do I.
"What am I going to do, Alec?" His voice was blank as he sat on the edge of my bed, swinging his legs back and forwards. "I'm going to be shunted between mum and dad's new houses every week, I don't want that!"
"What do you want?" I asked gently, moving to sit beside him.
"I want to stay here with you," he said.
"It's not long until you're able to move out," I assured him. "If you still think you can bare to live with me then, we'll sort something out."
"That's over a year, Alec," he whined petulantly, yet the ghost of a smile touched his lips.
"You might get fed up of me by then," I joked.
"Never," he said with more authority than I had ever heard in his voice. "I will never get fed up with you."
I smiled and began crawling beneath the covers. "Night."
"Goodnight, Alec."
***
"Did you ever live somewhere together?" she asked me.
"We never got the chance."
