‘You came home then.’ Her voice is flat, and she looks exhausted, her orange hair stuck up on one side. She’s wearing my T-shirt, the old Happy Mondays one I got from a charity shop, but judging by the look on her face now isn’t the time to mention it.

‘Sorry.’ I pull an apologetic face and wrinkle my nose, while trying to calculate whether I have time to wash my hair before it’s time to meet Rupert back at his house.

‘I bet,’ Mags sniffs. ‘Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been about you?’

‘Worried? Why would you be worried? I thought you knew where I would be.’ Mags is acting like my mother, not my flatmate, and I feel a flicker of uncertainty as I try and offer up a smile. ‘I didn’t think you’d even notice if I wasn’t home.’

‘Of course, I would notice. You’ve been home after midnight practically every night for the past few weeks – I can’t sleep until I know you’re home. You didn’t even bother to let me know you weren’t coming back, you didn’t respond to any of the text messages I sent you.’

I pull my phone out, to see six missed calls and seventeen text messages, all from Mags. Seventeen. ‘Jesus, Mags. How many texts? My phone died, OK? I gave it a quick blast this morning before I left – in fact, I need to put it on charge now.’ After last night, this is too much. I push past her and head for the sanctuary of my own bedroom.

‘Harry threatened to kill you, Emily! Ever since you’ve lived here you’ve been terrified of him tracking you down – what was I supposed to think? I thought he’d found you, hurt you! You can’t just not reply to my texts and expect me to not be concerned…’ Mags follows, Tiny circling her feet in an attempt to remind her to feed her. ‘Don’t get cross, I was just worried, that’s all. I’ve hardly seen you recently.’

I pause in pulling my T-shirt over my head. I’ve been so used to being on my own, looking after myself since Mum did a runner with her latest husband, that it didn’t occur to me that Mags would be concerned. And she does have a point – I have hardly seen her lately, but that’s only because I’ve been trying to avoid a lecture. Immediately I feel like a bitch. ‘I’m sorry, Mags, I didn’t think. I’m fine. I promise. I’m actually really happy.’ I sit on the bed in my underwear as Mags leans against the doorframe, a frown on her face.

‘So, you are seeing this Rupert then?’