Sixteen-year-old Shade has spent years imprisoned in a dark cellar after being snatched as a young child. Events since his release have left him traumatized and desperate to die.Dory is a lively and engaging seventeen-year-old with mental health issues that make him a slave to his dangerously uncontrollable emotions.When Shade comes to Eastbrook secure children's home because no place else wants him, the manager appoints Dory, for better or worse, to be his champion, an appointment Dory takes very seriously indeed.As friendship turns into something else, something new and exciting, they struggle to find their feet as every step leads to more complications.When a spiteful act separates them, it seems their love is doomed before it even has a chance. Then Dory falls ill and it's up to Shade to take up the standard and be his champion, although it might already be too late.