He'd never meant to end up here.

Was it only last year that his dreams had seemed so defiant, so strong and unbreakable?

Yet here he sits, huddled in a deserted shop doorway, jumping at shadows.

A car roars past, headlights cutting through the darkness like a laser. A drunken whoop is left hanging in the still air as the car disappears again into the night.

He almost smiles, thinking back to the days when they too had been on top of the world, the days of fast cars and pretty girls and staying up all night just because they could.

Now he stays up all night so he will be alive for the next one.