‘I mean about us sharing a bed, not you being contagious,’ I added quicky when I saw the look on his face, only to realise the connotations of that statement when his face flushed scarlet.

Deciding to ignore the awkwardness that followed, I edged through the junk and sank down on the furthest end of the mattress, tentatively climbing under the cover. I curled up so that my legs were mostly off the concrete and only the top half of my face was exposed, while taking up as little of the sleeping bag as possible and, most importantly, making sure there was absolutely no risk of accidentally brushing up against my bedmate.

Henry had wriggled back down so that we now lay a foot apart from each other, both of us facing the ceiling, every tiny rustle echoing through the tension. When Henry suddenly jumped up, for a second I thought it had all got too much and he was about to bolt, but instead he flicked off the light before returning to the makeshift bed again.

I released a slow, silent sigh of relief that it was so dark, even if I couldn’t get to sleep, at least I didn’t need to worry about Henry watching me. Unfortunately he didn’t need to see to know that I was still freezing. The thin mattress, which was a woeful barrier against the cold seeping up from the floor, was practically vibrating thanks to my violent shivering.

‘Okay, so now you’re just shivering right next to me. That’s not really resolved the me being able to sleep issue.’

‘You’re the one who told me to come over here!’ I burrowed even further below the sleeping bag, so only the top of my head was poking out. ‘I’ll warm up in a few minutes.’

Henry inched across the mattress until the side of his arm pressed up against mine. ‘Does that help?’

I almost groaned out loud, it helped so much. His whole body radiated heat, and I couldn’t resist wriggling in a tiny bit closer. In one sweeping motion, Henry lifted up his arm, firmly wrapping it around me as I nestled into the side of his chest.

‘Better?’

‘Yes. Thank you.’

‘Not too weird?’

‘It’s excruciatingly weird.’

‘On balance, it’s less weird than waking up to find you’ve died of hypothermia while in the same bed as me.’

‘That would definitely be worse.’

‘Note to self: contrary to previous statements, Bea considers touching me to be preferable to death.’

I lifted my head up an inch as if to look at him, although all I could see was thick blackness. ‘For a scientist, you’re a total drama queen.’

‘I’m not the one who said she’d rather die than hold my hand.’

I felt a quiver under my cheek that might have been Henry suppressing a laugh.