“I like it more than I liked varying shades of brown.”

“It was a bit like living in a biscuit barrel.”

“Paul likes it,” said Ava. “We did the bedrooms at the same time.”

“But I was quite fond of the stencils,” Finn protested.

“We’ve got turquoise and chocolate, crimson and magnolia, or violet and paler violet. Come and pick which one you want.”

They inspected the three spare bedrooms in silence.

“Do you remember our first flat?” Finn asked, looking around the turquoise bedroom.

“It was only about the size of this room,” said Ava.

“But it was ours.”

“And it was handy for the chip shop.”

“And we got our own free entertainment every Saturday night at chucking-out time.” Finn stroked the throw at the end of the turquoise bed. “This is like a teddy bear. A teddy wolf. Somebody skinned a teddy wolf. Are real wolves this soft?”

“Probably not. Well, maybe underneath, where their underwool is, but the top coat must be quite coarse to keep the water out – oh God, this room’s horrible, isn’t it?”

“The throw’s nice.”

“They’re all horrible. Every single one. What was I thinking?”

Finn looked at her carefully. “Did you choose it?”

“Well, no, Paul did. But I went along with it.”

“Then is it okay if I say it’s a little bit like a box of Quality Street?”

“Oh my God, it is as well.” Ava made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “That’s exactly what it’s bloody like. And our room’s the bloody nougat one. I didn’t even get the strawberry crème. I wish I’d had it painted the way you did our flat that time when you got suspended.”

“With a big tree on one wall? And all the maps on the other? Would Paul like that?”

“I liked it. Everything else in this house is the way he bloody wants it, he should let me have just one room.”

“So redecorate a room! I’ll take a week off and do it for you. Oh, Ava, don’t cry, please.” Finn put his arms around her and folded her into a hug.

“I’m sorry.”

“What’s wrong? Tell me. This isn’t just about the room.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s not.”

Ava dried her face on her sleeve. “Later. Let’s get the dinner party out of the way first. Then we can stay up and drink and watch terrible movies.”

“But you’re crying. You never cry. What’s happened?”

“Later.” Ava sniffed hard, then smiled. “Now you have to distract me. Tell me about why you got suspended that time you painted the living room.”

“Again?”

“It’s a brilliant story. Tell it.”

“Tell what?” Paul appeared in the doorway.

“The time Finn got suspended from school just before Christmas,” said Ava.

“Why?” Paul looked from Finn to Ava. “Have you been crying?”

“No. Finn, tell the story.”

“It’s not much of a – oh, all right then. So what happened was, it was the Christmas concert, and the whole school had to go to church and sing carols. You know, for the parents and the old people and the everyone. And we were all feeling a bit rebellious and anti-establishment, and the boys in my year wanted to stage a protest about religious indoctrination. With banners and things. In fact, looking back on it, it was a bit unfair that I got into so much trouble. I was actually doing the school a service by diverting them into something else.”