“And, hey, what you said...you were right. I have so much to be sorry for I... I can’t believe how much I let you down. How self-obsessed I was. How jealous I was, of something nobody should be jealous of. I’ve been thinking so much about what you said, and I’m trying to be better.”

“Thank you for saying that,” she echoes. “Honestly. It means a lot. Though I can’t believe you’re jealous of me.”

“And I can’t believe you’re jealous of me!”

I edge my butt closer to her on the bench. She giggles, and inches closer too. I inch again. She copies. We collide arses and fall into our first proper laugh together since the day we burned it all down. We embrace again, and cry again. For the years we’ve lost, the pains we’ve suffered, for how much we adore each other.

“Your degree sounds so cool,” I say when we break apart again, laughing as we wipe under our eyes.

“Oh my God, it’s so cool. You should meet some of my friends on it. I mean, I’m in the slow lane. I’m only just learning about how men aren’t very nice to women, but they’re already trying to tell me that gender doesn’t even exist, that you can be whoever you want, change your mind about it even... I feel very old...and very jealous. I mean, can you imagine how much easier life would’ve been if we’d known stuff like that in our day?”