He stares at me in abject disapproval. “I cannot understand you sounding so nostalgic about this dump.” He examines the wall and the stain more closely. “It looks more like Mr Rising Damp and ooh look, over there is his friend Mr Subsidence.” He eyes me beadily. “And you paid rent for this place, the three of you? Or am I imagining that and the landlord actually paid you to live here?”

I snort. “We were very happy here.”

Misha smiles. “We did have some good times, didn’t we? Do you remember when you lost that bet and had to run down the corridors in your underwear singing Barry Manilow’s ‘I Can’t Smile Without You’?”

I shake my head. “How embarrassing.”

He smirks. “Not for you. You knew all the words. And you threw in all those lovely high kicks and jazz hands for free.” I scowl at him, and he flings his arm over my shoulder and drags me closer. “You feeling melancholy?”

I shrug. “A bit. It feels like the end of an era.”

“It is, sweets. You and Jesse and Eli moved in here straight from university.” He pauses. “And proceeded to recreate being teenagers for another six years after that.”

“Better than recreating the fall of the Roman Empire like you bankers do in the West End on a Friday night.”

Misha laughs. “Point taken.” He kisses the top of my head briskly. “You ready?”

I look around the flat one last time, taking it all in so I can remember it. We did have good times, and now Jesse and Eli are settled with their men, and they’re happy. And me? I swallow. My life seems to be getting more complicated rather than less. I realise that I’m running my fingers over the epileptic bracelet and that he’s watching me with a concerned look on his face. I immediately plaster a smile on my own.

“Ready? Let’s go and get moved into that Shad Thames shithole.”

He shakes his head and lets me tug him out of the flat.

Chapter Two

A Few Days Later

Charlie

When I wake up, it takes me a few minutes to work out where I am. I’m used to yellowing paper that’s had to be stuck back up with Blu Tack, a curtain that doesn’t quite fit the window, and a lovely view of the bins.

Now I’m looking at exposed brick walls, and wooden floors and beams that are a thick honey-gold colour. It’s fairly bare at the moment, with just my bed, a wardrobe, and a comfy leather chair in it, but I know once I’ve put my bedlinen on the bed and hung my pictures up, it’ll look amazing.