Then our story began: him knocking Tiff flying the night they met, him meeting me in The George and Dragon for the first time, rushing home with me when Drew had his meltdown, and rushing home with me again when Mum went AWOL. Frame sixteen showed him looking at the bears for his nieces in my bedroom, then me feeding him wine gums as he moved me back to Whitsborough Bay, followed by him giving me an enormous hot chocolate outside Blue Savannah after my altercation with Mum.

My favourite image was the next one: Sam standing by the rock pools with a shaft of sunlight beaming down on him. I stood nearby, looking up at the sun, an expression of wonder on my face.

Evan captured the run-in we’d had with Kirsty and then Sam running away, leaving me looking devastated. A few more frames captured the beach hut memorial party, Kirsty pursuing him along the beach, then him explaining to Karen and me that it wasn’t what it looked like.

The final three images were of us kissing in the park at the end of Castle Street, me disappearing into the crowd as he watched me, then one of both of us looking wistfully out of separate windows, mobiles in our hands, looking lost.

Evan had finished with a big ‘What happens next’ graphic followed by a couple of blank frames containing large question marks.

Throughout our starters, Sam kept glancing towards the frame and smiling. ‘So, what does happen next?’ he asked after Hollie cleared our plates.

‘I think we go on more dates. Proper ones, as you say, and see where it takes us.’

‘You’re sure you’re ready?’

‘I think so, but bear with me if I have wobbles. I’m scared, Sam.’

He reached out and took my hand. ‘I know. So am I. We’ve both lost someone we loved and starting again is a huge thing, but I think they’d both want us to. I know Nikki would have liked you.’

‘I reckon Scott would have liked you too.’

‘I think that’s one of the many reasons why we’re so perfect together. We understand there’s been someone else who was the keeper of our hearts first, but they were taken away from us. You’re not Nikki and I don’t want you to be. I want you to be you and I want us to have our own memories, like this place which has no memories of either of them. I’m not Scott either and I know you don’t want me to be. But Scott and Nikki are very important to us and we should continue to remember them because they’re part of who we are today.’

A tear slipped down my cheek. How did he do it? How did he reach into my soul, find the biggest fear I had, and manage to reassure me about it?