Chris smiled fuzzily down at his new friends. ‘I don’t know what you guys are up to,’ he began, ‘but I’ve got a fortnight’s leave coming up, starting Tuesday. I’m with family for the second week, but next week – perhaps I could take you both out to dinner…?’

‘Sorry, we’re going on holiday,’ Tamsin said quickly.

‘Bad timing,’ agreed Callum. ‘Otherwise we’d have loved … And you know, we still haven’t had that chat about the army, I mean more formally, without assistance from Will.’

Chris and Callum both chuckled.

‘That’s a shame,’ said Chris. ‘I was really—’

‘You’re going to be in London all week – where are you staying?’ Callum interrupted him.

‘Well, Edwin has a house up in Islington, there’s a sofa there, or I might—’

‘No, listen, this is silly, my bed’s going to be empty all week – you might as well keep Tam’s key and use the flat as and when you want it.’

‘Seriously, you mean that?’ Chris stammered.

‘No problem at all,’ Callum smiled. ‘It’s good to have you around, Chris. You’re a great guy.’

Chris looked down at his feet. People often found this disconcerting in Callum: his ability to state personal affection quite candidly, without avoiding eye-contact or employing any self-protective irony. Tamsin thought it the most un-English thing about him, though she didn’t know that it was particularly Scottish, either. When they first met, she had been impressed by this directness; but lately, she had begun to find it embarrassing.

* * *

Back at the flat, Tamsin used the bathroom while Callum helped Chris with the sofa bed. Her first idea was to pretend to be asleep when Callum lay down beside her.

‘Tam?’ he said softly, then went on without waiting for a reply. ‘About earlier … I’m sorry.’

‘It’s not just that.’ Tamsin sat up in bed, unable, after all, to stay silent. ‘What about Chris?’

‘What about Chris?’

‘You’re suddenly so pally. We’ve only just met him.’

‘You knew him before, didn’t you?’ said Callum, reasonably.

‘What? What do you mean?’ Tamsin tripped on the possibility that somehow, Callum had found out the truth about her and Chris. Then she realised what he was referring to. ‘Oh, you mean from College. Well, I didn’t know him very well. You can’t just go offering your flat to people like that.’

‘Actually, I can. It being my flat,’ said Callum, injecting the last two words with uncharacteristic bitterness.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘What’s what supposed to mean?’

‘You know what.’

‘Well, only…’ Callum shrugged unhappily. ‘Only that – sometimes it seems as if you don’t actually want to live with me.’

‘Fuck that’s unfair. You know I do. You know it’s just a question of—’

‘—financial stability,’ Callum finished with her. He sounded very tired.