‘So have you two kept in touch then?’ Mel asked, nodding towards Rob.

‘Hello, Mel,’ Piper said, sarcastically. ‘How are you? Good to see you!’

‘Sorry.’ Mel grinned wryly. ‘How are you? Good to see you. I saw you on Hey, UK! You were really good. That other woman was a right stuck-up bitch.’

Piper sat down next to her old friend. She looked, like she had on Facebook, basically the same.

‘She was okay really,’ Piper said.

She had no idea why she felt the need to defend Naomi Jones. She hadn’t been particularly nice to Piper and the article she’d written had been vile.

‘Did she believe it all?’ Mel asked. ‘Or was she just trying to be Katie Hopkins or something?’

‘I don’t know,’ Piper said. ‘I didn’t really talk to her.’

‘Did you talk to that chef?’ Mel asked. ‘He was hot.’

‘Little bit,’ Piper said. But she didn’t get to give Mel any details, sparse as they were, because Rob arrived with their drinks. Noticing Piper had one already, he put hers down on the table in front of the window and held out his own glass.

‘To reunions!’

‘To reunions,’ Piper and Mel echoed, clinking their glasses.

‘And to Piper finally making it home,’ Mel said. ‘We going to the Magazines after this?’

Piper laughed. ‘Aren’t we still barred?’

‘Under new management,’ Mel said. ‘You’re fine.’

‘Is that why you moved away?’ Rob said. ‘Cos you were barred from all the pubs on the Wirral?’

‘And whose fault was that?’ Piper asked.

‘You never got in trouble anyway,’ Mel said. ‘You always left before it all kicked off. ‘Goody two shoes.’

Piper shook her head, even though it was true and they all knew it. She’d never been able to understand how her friends didn’t seem to mind getting into trouble. Piper had never wanted to let anyone down. Still didn’t. But she always seemed to manage it anyway.

‘Have you seen Dawn?’ Mel asked.

‘Not yet,’ Piper said.

Mel nodded towards the door and when Piper looked over she saw Dawn – an enormously pregnant Dawn – heading towards them.

‘Oh my god!’ Piper said. ‘Dawn!’

‘I know.’ Dawn shook her head, sending her tassel earrings swinging. ‘I’m like the size of a fucking house.’

‘When are you due?!’

‘Not even soon,’ Dawn said, sitting down on Mel’s other side. ‘It’s twins.’

‘Holy shit.’

‘I know.’

‘You’ll be fine,’ Mel said. ‘You’ll be amazing.’

‘I’m trying to talk my mum into taking one off me,’ Dawn said. ‘We could alternate them maybe.’

Piper grinned at her. She was the same. Exactly the same.

‘Like, I didn’t think I’d be able to look after one. I can’t fucking believe I’m going to have to look after two. I went to an antenatal class the other day and the woman was talking about me feeding them both at the same time, like… one under each arm? And I was like “fuck that noise”. Can you imagine? I’m not a milking machine. I’ll do them one at a time or not at all.’ She looked Rob up and down. ‘Sorry to launch straight into tit chat.’

Rob shrugged, smiling. ‘It’s fine.’

‘I won’t tell you about the state of my nipples though. Save that for later. And I can’t even have a fucking drink. Jesus.’

Rob left to get Dawn a J2O and the three of them looked at each other. The DJ was playing ‘Uptown Funk’, but it wasn’t yet loud enough to interfere with conversation, the dancefloor was still empty.

‘I was trying to remember when you were last home,’ Dawn said to Piper. ‘Since… you know.’

Before Piper’s parents died, she meant.

‘I’ve been home,’ Piper said. ‘But I usually just stay one night and don’t go out or anything.’

‘Where d’you stay?’ Dawn asked.

‘With my Aunty Connie.’

‘Fuck me, is she still alive?!’

Mel spat out a mouthful of beer, snorting with laughter and wiping her chin with the back of her hand. ‘Jesus, Dawn. You don’t change, do you?’

‘Sorry,’ Dawn said. ‘But wasn’t she dead old when you lived here?’

‘She’s eighty-three,’ Piper said.

‘And she’s your aunty? I always thought she was your nan.’

‘No, my grandparents died ages ago,’ Piper said. It wasn’t quite that simple, but she wasn’t going to get into it. ‘And she’s actually my great-aunt. She’s my mum’s aunt.’

‘Ah right,’ Dawn said. ‘I was dead sorry, you know. About your mum and dad. They were lovely.’

Piper had known this would happen – how could it not – but she had to swallow hard and blink tears back anyway. Sometimes it was fine and she could talk about it, but other times…

‘Sorry,’ Dawn said, reaching over and squeezing Piper’s knee. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you. Do you want me to tell you about my piles? Take your mind off it.’

‘I’d rather talk about my dead parents,’ Piper managed to squeak out and Mel and Dawn laughed.

A tear spilled anyway and Piper wiped it with her fingertips, turning to look out of the window at the fort and the river. For so long – for years, since she’d left really – she’d wondered what it would be like to be home, to hang out with her friends again. She thought they’d resent her for leaving the way she had. She thought at the very least they wouldn’t want to spend any time with her. But this felt the same as it always had. This felt like nothing had changed at all. It was nice. But also a little disconcerting. She’d spent years trying to become a different person, to leave the old Piper behind. If she’d succeeded – and she’d thought she had – how come she could fit back in so easily?

Rob pulled a chair over and sat just in front of them. He leaned back and crossed one ankle over the other knee and Piper felt a bit stunned at how much like an actual adult he looked.

‘What?’ he said, looking back at her.

‘Oh god.’ She laughed. ‘You just look like such a grown-up! It’s weird.’

‘Me? Dawn’s creating new humans.’

‘Yeah, but she looks pretty much the same,’ Piper said.

‘And she sounds exactly the same,’ Mel agreed.

‘But you used to be skinny and, like, a teenage boy and now you’re like—’

‘A maaaaaaaan,’ Dawn said dramatically.

Piper laughed. ‘Right.’

‘He wasn’t this hot at school, was he?’ Dawn said, looking at the other women.

Rob laughed, ducking his head, rubbing one hand over the back of his neck.

‘He was,’ Mel said, glancing at Piper. ‘Well, maybe not this hot. But hot. Wasn’t he, Piper?’

Piper blinked at her. She couldn’t even look at Rob.

‘I don’t know,’ she lied. ‘I always thought he was a massive dork.’

‘I was definitely a massive dork,’ Rob said.

‘Seriously though,’ Dawn said. ‘Do you, like, work out or something?’

Mel shrieked with laughter. ‘Was that meant to be a pick-up line? Because this really isn’t a good time.’

‘Oh give me a break,’ Dawn said. ‘I haven’t had sex for six months. Carl can’t get near me with this.’ She gestured at her enormous belly. ‘And he doesn’t want to anyway. Do you know what he said? “What if I hurt the baby’s head?” I said, “Don’t flatter yourself.’’’ She rolled her eyes. ‘But the hormones give me the right horn. Pregnancy is bullshit.’

‘You remember when we used to tell you you needed more male friends?’ Mel told Rob. ‘This is why.’

‘I’ve got male friends!’ Rob said. ‘I had male friends back then too.’

‘Yeah, like two of them,’ Mel said.

‘So?’ Dawn said. ‘What do you do then? I’m going to need a personal trainer cos by the time I get these buggers out I’ll be a right fat bitch.’

Piper’s face felt hot. She forced herself not to react. Dawn didn’t seem to even think about it.

‘I used to go to the gym,’ Rob said. He shifted his leg, pressing his knee against Piper’s. She looked at him, surprised, but he was still looking over at Dawn. ‘But I mostly just run now,’ he finished.

‘Oh yeah,’ Mel said. ‘I remember seeing that on Facebook. You did that muddy one.’

‘And an Iron Man!’ Dawn said, sitting up straight and bracing her arms against her knees. ‘I remember seeing it now. Cos I remember wondering then how you’d got so big.’

‘Jesus,’ Mel said. ‘Keep it in your pants.’

‘Yeah,’ Rob said. ‘I did an Iron Man a couple of years ago. Wouldn’t do that again though, it was too fucking hard.’

Mel snorted.

‘The Tough Mudder was okay. I’m not bothered about anything like that though really. That was just what I did to make myself keep running. I do it automatically now. Feels weird if I don’t.’

‘I don’t do anything like that,’ Mel said. ‘I’ve got a step counter on my phone and if I’ve got the day off work the only steps I do are between the sofa and the fridge.’

‘Where do you work?’ Piper asked Mel. She was relieved to be able to change the subject. The thought of Rob running, or Rob covered in mud, or Rob doing whatever you did in an Iron Man – swimming? Cycling? Rolling tyres and pulling trucks? – was making her flustered. Not to mention the fact that he’d noticed Dawn’s casual fatphobia and had made a point of letting Piper know he had.

‘Wetherspoons,’ Mel said. ‘Just along the front there. I’m Assistant Bar Manager. Been there since it opened.’

‘Do you like it?’ Piper asked.

‘It’s a good laugh,’ Mel said, shrugging. ‘What about you?’

While Piper told Mel about her job, Dawn was asking Rob about his. Piper wanted to listen – she realised she still couldn’t believe he was a teacher – but she couldn’t do that and talk to Mel at the same time. Every time she let her eyes drift over in his direction, she’d look back to find Mel looking smug. She’d never told Mel she’d fancied Rob when they were teens, but she was sure she knew. Mel always knew everything about everyone. She was one of those people.

‘Ooh!’ she said suddenly. ‘I love this song!’

Piper glanced over her shoulder and was surprised to find that while they’d been talking a few people had actually started dancing.

‘Come on, Rob,’ Mel said, grabbing his hand as she passed Piper.

Rob let himself be pulled onto the dancefloor.