‘I think … Oh, no …’ He stood, ran to the bathroom, closed the door.

‘Oh dear,’ Biddy said.

I grimaced. ‘Yeah, that’s not good.’ It sounded like he was throwing up into the sink, right next to our toothbrushes; we could clean them, use boiling water, buy new ones. Sarah could have helped him, that was one of her super skills, but she was out of it. I approached the bathroom door, knocked. ‘Can I get you anything, man?’

‘All good,’ he said. ‘It’s probably food poisoning.’

I returned to the living room, sat.

‘Poor thing,’ Biddy said.

Zac came through a few minutes later, shook his head. ‘My stomach’s empty but I’m still retching.’

‘You can sleep here,’ I said. ‘It’s no problem.’

He returned to the bathroom, closed the door.

‘That doesn’t sound good,’ Biddy said.

‘Total shit,’ I said.

I’d set Zac up for the night. A full house, as per fucking always, but –

The bathroom door, Zac’s footsteps. ‘I’m heading, dude, I’m going to stay at my friend Jacqui’s.’ He winked, smiled.

I hugged him in the hallway, said goodbye, returned to the living room.

Biddy and I were the only survivors.

‘I’ve had a lovely evening,’ she said, getting up and … no, staying put.

‘Me too.’ I sat on the sofa next to her, my heartbeat, boom …

She might reject me, might regret me …

She took off her boots – one red sock, one brown – pulled her feet onto the sofa. ‘I hope your party goes well tomorrow.’

‘Yeah, fuck, I never go to parties anymore.’ Why was she so far away? ‘Sarah either. This is new, it’s all so …’

Might repent me, might resent me …

There was no point not trying to –

I leant in tentatively for a kiss; her mouth opened, and –

Oh, it felt –

Such a good kisser, such –

A creak. My left eye opened. Sophie? Oliver? No, they were with Carly. Chris, chill the fuck out.

An hour passed, or ten minutes, or five – it was hard to know.

Biddy said, ‘It’s getting cold.’

‘Maybe we should go to my room. Wait there …’ I stood, went through, opened the door. Maybe it was the MDMA, but the fact Sarah was in bed stoned out of her mind didn’t feel insurmountable. I stroked her hair, tapped her forehead, lifted her eye mask.

‘What?’ she croaked, her eyes still closed, her body unmoving, lit dimly from the hallway.

‘Oh, hey. Biddy and I have started kissing. Would you mind if we came into bed together? Just to sleep, I mean. We won’t disturb you.’

‘What time’s it, hun?’

‘No idea.’

‘Yeah, look …’ Her peepers opened a little. ‘Not sure that’s a good idea, t’be honest. Have to be tonight?’