‘So, this is it then? You’re officially leaving.’ Mags stands in the doorway, her orange hair piled up on top of her head in a haphazard bun, one hand picking at the nail varnish on the other. She wears a green and purple maxi dress that clashes horribly with her hair, and once again her feet are grubby and bare.

‘Yeah,’ I say quietly, turning back to face the overfull holdall. ‘This is the last of it.’ Much as I am happy to be moving into Rupert’s place properly, my chest feels tight at never being here again. Even though I’m pleased to be moving on, it feels like the end of an era. I won’t sit on the sofa with Mags, stuffing cheesy popcorn, while we watch a marathon of Eighties movies. I won’t be making terrible margaritas, that Mags and I neck almost as a challenge, they are so awful. Equally, I won’t have to hold Mags’s hair back, as she vomits them back up either.

Mags sniffs, and I feel a wave of guilt. ‘Come on, Mags, you knew it was coming.’

I tried to time collecting the last of my things with Mags being out, but now part of me is glad I get to say goodbye to her properly.

‘I know,’ Mags says, her mouth downturned. ‘I suppose I thought maybe it wouldn’t happen. Sorry.’ She gives a rueful grin, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Perhaps this won’t be so bad.

‘End of an era,’ I say, forcing a smile onto my face. Now I have my things, and I’ve said goodbye, I’m ready to leave. ‘But it’s the start of a new one, that’s how we have to look at it.’

‘I saw the announcement his parents put in The Times. The engagement is announced… blah blah blah.’ Mags screws her face up, like a child who has just taken a spoonful of medicine.

‘There’s no need to be like that,’ I say, slumping down onto the bed. ‘Mags, you always knew it was a temporary thing, me living here. I thought you wanted me to be happy after Harry.’ I look down at the scarf I’m holding, worried for a moment that I won’t be able to hide my emotions from Mags. That I won’t be able to hide the fact that part of me is relieved to be leaving the flat, and Mags, behind. That I’m looking forward to the space Rupert’s house can afford me, instead of these tiny, cramped four walls that make me feel so claustrophobic at times it makes my chest hurt. That Mags makes me feel claustrophobic.