‘You know what?’ I leaned a little closer, taking an extra stumble that brought me within three inches of his neck. I breathed in a lungful of his coconutty scent, producing an instant flashback to waking up beside him on Christmas morning, with all the strange and wonderful feelings that had accompanied it. ‘Right now, you are, in the most scientific of terms, exactly that.’

Henry looked down, his gaze meeting mine, and for a second I caught a glimpse of the man behind the robot mask. Something flashed deep in the bright blue of his eyes, like an electric eel skimming below the surface of the ocean, and it was dangerous and thrilling both at the same time, sending a shiver across every inch of my skin.

Who knew how long we would have stood there, or whether we’d have moved any closer to each other, if the kitchen door hadn’t flung open and Mia taken one look at us before slamming it closed again.

‘Right. Anyway.’ Henry took a step back, bumping into the front door, his face flinching in alarm before adopting a blank expression again. ‘You sound like you need to get to bed.’

‘I do.’ I nodded. ‘I don’t know if I’m really tired or a bit drunk.’

‘Maybe both?’

‘Maybe.’ It was then that I registered Henry had been getting ready to go outside. ‘Where are you going? It’s nearly one in the morning.’

‘Home.’

‘Home?’ I shook my head as if a fly had crawled into my ear. ‘This is home.’

‘My home.’ His eyes were now firmly focused on the tiled floor between us. ‘I’ve been over the stable apartment today and made it habitable. With everything going on I thought it best to get out of the way.’

‘You’re not in the way!’ I said, unable to hide my disappointment. ‘You’re the nicest person here.’

He gave one, firm shake of his head. ‘If you knew what I was thinking when your boyfriend showed up this morning, you’d know that isn’t true.’

Then before I could process what on earth that meant, or how to respond, he’d gone.

I’d hoped to sleep in late on Friday morning, burrowing under my duvet where real life couldn’t reach me. My delightful mother had other ideas, stomping up the attic steps and pounding on my door until hearing me croak in reply, which she then took as an invitation to barge in.

‘Bea, you’re late. We’re all getting ready to go.’

‘You are kidding me,’ I groaned, tugging the duvet up over my head.

‘You promised to join in with the itinerary. Surely your grandmother being unwell only reinforces why we need to spend this precious last day together before you disappear off again.’

I slid one arm out and fumbled for my phone, checking for the inevitable mountain of notifications before holding it out to her.