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While Marcus is waiting for Will to collect him and Fiona for their outing he thinks about how he can bring Will and Fiona together. He decides that because his mum is pretty and Will is wealthy, the relationship would work and then all four of them could live together – he is, of course, including Will’s invented son, Ned. He even thinks that his mum, at 38, is not too old to have another baby with Will so then there would be five of them in the family. He is happy with this plan because with five people around it would not matter so much if one of them were to die. Marcus has been following Will secretly so he knows where he lives and does his shopping. Marcus tells his mother that he wants Will to take them to Planet Hollywood, which a boy at his old school had told him about, and he is hoping to see a famous person there, such as Bruce Willis.

When Will arrives, he introduces himself to Fiona, even though he had seen her the previous week when she attempted suicide. As Fiona introduces herself, Marcus looks at her and feels proud. She is wearing her best leggings, a baggy, hairy jumper, dangly earrings and has put on make-up. They agree to go to Planet Hollywood, even though Will is not very keen. However, the queue is so long that they go to Twenty-Eight, which is nice and serves good fries. Soon, though, Will is thinking that Fiona is not his type. He likes tall, long-haired, classically beautiful women who dress smartly, but Fiona is too much like a hippy, in his opinion. He plans instead to take Fiona and Marcus out now and then as his new do-good project. However, a few days later Fiona invites him to supper. The food is not to his taste as it is vegetarian, but the conversation is pleasant enough. Then the awful part begins - Fiona decides to play the piano and sing. Will decides that he cannot even be friends with this woman.

One afternoon as he is waiting for Countdown to begin there is a ring at the door. It is Marcus, who announces that he has come to see Will, and that he knows that Will does not have a child. He asks if he can use the bathroom, and while he is out of the room Will desperately tries to think of a story to explain his child’s absence. However, Marcus has a good look around while he is supposed to be in the bathroom and when he returns he tells Will that there are absolutely no signs of a child in the place, such as toys or photos. He starts going to Will’s house most days after school. Will is not very enthusiastic at first but he lets Marcus come in and watch Countdown with him.

They talk and Marcus eventually admits that he hates school because it doesn’t suit him. When Will asks if people give him a hard time, Marcus tries to play it down, saying that there are just a couple of kids who mock his haircut and his glasses, as well as his habit of singing at inappropriate times. Marcus continues to visit Will regularly and they fall into a routine. They watch Countdown and chat about what is happening in Marcus’ life. Marcus is still very frightened that Fiona might try to kill herself again, and one of the reasons that he visits Will is to put off going home for a bit longer. When Will asks him how often he thinks about the day of his mother’s attempted suicide, Marcus mumbles that he doesn’t know, because he cannot admit that it is all the time. It seems that Will has understood how scared Marcus is. He invites Marcus to stay a bit longer that day.

Will resolves once again not to get involved with Marcus’ problems and congratulates himself on not having a single problem of his own. One afternoon there is the sound of gravel hitting Will’s window and a frantic ringing of the doorbell. Standing on the doorstep is Marcus, being bombarded with hard sweets – a couple of which hit Will too, and they hurt. Will sees two older boys with mean-looking faces and skinhead haircuts, and he swears at them and tells them to go away. Will takes Marcus out to buy a pair of new trainers. Marcus chooses a pair of Adidas basketball boots which cost £60, and which Will says make him look cool. The next day when Marcus arrives on Will’s doorstep he is in tears and standing in his socks. The new trainers have been stolen.