Quinn took a bite of dry Weetabix and a swig of milk from the carton, then made an overblown ‘hmmm, delicious’ face. They both grinned. All around them, people started yelling out the countdown.

‘Ten, nine, eight … ’

In the sky there were a few early explosions, light streaming across the sky in bursts of colour. They could just see the top of the BT tower, shining brightly on the horizon.

‘Three, two, one, HAPPY NEW YEAR!’ cried voices all around them.

‘Happy Birthday, wonderful, beautiful Minnie,’ whispered Quinn, leaning in to kiss her.

‘Happy Birthday to you too.’

The teenager on the guitar started playing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ and people began to sing along. As Quinn and Minnie kissed, the sky erupted in fireworks from all around the city. Light blazing and bursting high into the air, floating down again in a twinkling canopy of burnished rain.

Then Minnie’s phone began to ring. She pulled back from Quinn, took it from her bag and looked at the screen.

‘Unknown number,’ she said, making a puzzled face. ‘Hello?’

‘Hi Minnie, it’s Tara. Is Quinn with you?’

‘It’s your mum,’ Minnie mouthed to Quinn.

‘Yes, he’s here,’ she told Tara. ‘I’ll put you on … ’

Quinn closed his eyes and held out his hand to take the phone.

‘No, no, I don’t need to speak to him,’ Tara said. ‘I just wanted to check that he’d found you. He called me looking for your number earlier, and I just managed to get your details from your mother. I’m glad you were able to find each other.’

Quinn was still holding out his hand for the phone, his brow furrowed in confusion as to why Minnie was still talking to his mother.

‘We’re on Primrose Hill,’ said Minnie, standing up and waving at the blue house across the road. ‘I’m waving now, I doubt you can see me. We could come and say hello in a bit?’

‘No, don’t. Go and enjoy yourselves,’ said Tara. ‘Oh, and Minnie?’

‘Yes.’

‘Happy Birthday, sweetheart.’

Minnie said goodbye and hung up the phone.

‘What was that about?’ asked Quinn.

‘You called her earlier looking for my number, she just wanted to check you’d found me.’

Quinn nodded and rolled his eyes to the sky. ‘I called her from a friend’s phone when my mobile died. I hoped she might have your number.’

‘Well, she says Happy Birthday,’ said Minnie.

Minnie leant back against Quinn’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck, setting off a whole new wave of fireworks. Streams of light crackled on the horizon and Minnie let out a contented sigh. As they gently swayed to the music of the guitar, Minnie’s head resting on Quinn’s shoulder, he said, ‘In the morning, shall we go to the heath and watch the sunrise from our hill?’