‘I brought you something,’ Rob said, lifting a medium-sized cardboard box out of a B&Q carrier bag. The box was for a lampshade.

‘It’s not a lampshade,’ Rob said. ‘This was the only box it fit in.’

‘Can I open it now?’ Piper asked, carrying it over to her small dining table.

‘Course.’

‘Oh wait, do you want a tea or something first?’

‘No, I’m fine. Thanks. Open it.’ Rob grinned at her.

‘You don’t want to go to bed first?’ Piper said, raising one eyebrow. ‘While Matt’s out?’

‘Yes. Shit. Leave it.’ He reached for her hand and she stretched hers out to take his. ‘No, I’m joking. I can wait five minutes. Open it.’

Piper had to take a second to internally shake herself since mentally she was already on her way to the bedroom and reaching for Rob’s clothes. She didn’t know how he did this to her. Just the suggestion of sex and her brain turned to marshmallow fluff.

She stared down at the box. Open the box. Right. Present first and then sex. The box wasn’t taped up so she lifted the lid easily, but whatever was inside was wrapped in bubble wrap. She lifted a piece out and dropped it on the table.

‘Oh wait,’ Rob said. ‘You’ll probably need to lift it out.’

Piper reached her hands inside the box and felt something round. She lifted it and Rob pulled the box out of the way, dropping it on the floor. The thing was quite heavy and she rested it on the table as she stripped away the remaining bubble wrap to reveal a glitter ball. She laughed out loud.

‘It’s electric,’ Rob said. ‘You can put it on the ceiling or have it standing on your desk or whatever.’

‘I love it,’ she said.

‘It’s home-made. Well, school-made. I set it as a project for the boys at school. Some of the boys who left comments. The one who made the photo edit. They really did not enjoy cutting all those tiny squares to my specifications, I can tell you.’

‘Oh my god,’ Piper said. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yep. Plus while they were doing it, I showed them Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche’s ‘We Should All Be Feminists’ TED talk on the whiteboard.’

‘You did not,’ Piper said.

‘I did. A couple of them apologised. I know it’s you they should be apologising to, not me, but I didn’t think you’d actually want to hear from any of the little sods, so…’

‘This is amazing,’ Piper said. She stared down at the glitter ball, seeing tiny versions of herself reflected over and over and over. ‘I love it.’

Rob stepped closer, hooking his chin over her shoulder, his arms sliding around her waist. She gasped as he squeezed. She could see tiny reflections of the two of them now. They were both smiling.

‘Why don’t you move here?’ Piper said before she could change her mind.

‘Okay,’ Rob said, kissing behind her ear.

‘Just like that?’

‘Why not?’

Piper turned in his arms to look at him. ‘What about your job?’

Rob furrowed his brow, pretending to think. ‘I’m fairly sure there are schools in London. Grange Hill? That was in London, wasn’t it? Waterloo Road?’

‘That’s in Rochdale.’

‘Is it? Okay, then whatever school William and Kate’s kids go to. Or I bet there are even other schools, not frequented by royalty.’

‘You think you’re clever, don’t you?’ She bit lightly at his jaw. She loved how his skin tasted.

He smiled, smugly. ‘Well I am a teacher.’

Piper rolled her eyes. ‘It’s a big move. You’ve got a flat. Friends. Family.’

‘They’ll all still be there. Even the flat. I could sublet it. And I was thinking it was time for a new challenge anyway.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. I’ve been there a few years now. Plus after what happened on Facebook I’ve started to think of the students as a bunch of bastards, so a change is probably overdue.’

‘Right,’ Piper said. ‘Okay. I mean, if you were thinking about it anyway…’

He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. ‘Oh, make no mistake, it wouldn’t be because I wanted a change.’

‘No?’

‘Nope. It would be because I want to be with you.’

‘Rob—’

‘No, listen. No pressure. Honestly. If you decide you don’t want this, if it’s too much or too soon or both, then tell me. And we can carry on with long distance. It’s not that far. But if we can have more, I want more. I want to wake up with you in the morning. I want to fall asleep with you at night. I want to watch TV with you and eat brunch with you and shower with you and sit in your tiny garden drinking coffee with you. I want to get to know your friends and see London through your eyes and be, you know, together.’

Piper wasn’t sure she was breathing. Dots were starting to appear in front of her eyes.

‘Also,’ Rob said. ‘I want to be naked with you. Like, all the time.’

‘Okay,’ Piper said. ‘We can do that. I can do that.’

‘Want to start now?’ Rob asked.

So they did.