‘You look beautiful,’ John said, straightening out the bow at the nape of my neck. I looked into the mirror and saw the pair of us staring back. Me in my lavender gown, John in a beautiful charcoal-grey jacket over his white shirt, grey tie and jeans, his hands resting on my shoulders.

And when he smiled, my stomach flipped.

‘We’ve really got to stop meeting like this,’ he said, his body warm against mine.

‘Thank you for dressing me,’ I replied. I wasn’t ready to move just yet. ‘And for everything else. You saved the day again.’

‘Least I could do,’ he said, removing his hands and digging them deep into his pockets, leaving my shoulders bare and cold. I felt myself sway backwards as he moved away and had to steady myself with one hand on the wall.

‘And thank you for coming yesterday,’ I said, folding my arms around myself as John slouched back against a rose-gold-painted radiator. ‘You really didn’t have to. I think it might have been better if no one had been there.’

‘I figured I owed you one after the way I acted at the baby shower,’ he replied with an apologetic smile. ‘And besides, Sumi said you’d introduce me to Snazzlechuff. I’m guessing that’s not on the cards now, is it? Unless I can crash your date.’

‘Please do,’ I groaned. ‘He’s already texting me. How do you let a fourteen-year-old down gently?’

John looked down at the floor, his black hair falling in front of his face. ‘The same way you let everyone else down,’ he said. ‘Tell him you’ve already got a boyfriend.’

‘But I haven’t,’ I said, noticing how hard I was breathing against the tight bodice of my dress. ‘Me and Patrick, it’s over.’

He looked up, his eyes wide and his face open. The downturned smile he always seemed to be fighting against slowly broadened.

‘Really?’

‘Really,’ I confirmed. ‘Turns out we both wanted different things.’

‘And what is it that you wanted?’ John asked, all hope and anticipation.

‘I’m still working that out,’ I replied, looking up to the pink-painted ceiling, arms securely wrapped around myself. ‘I think it might take a while.’

‘Oh,’ he replied with an understanding but clearly disappointed nod, keeping his chin to his chest. ‘I get it.’

I couldn’t not smile. Once you knew how to read them his feelings were always right there on his face, he wouldn’t know how to hide them if he tried. I had got too used to trying to read between the lines, translate signs and search for things that weren’t really there. I’d forgotten what honest attraction looked like.