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‘Good morning,’ he says with a big smile.

‘Morning,’ I reply, shifting about awkwardly because I’ve just remembered I’m in the shorts and cropped vest I slept in (or tried to sleep in, anyway). ‘Sorry, I didn’t know you were here.’

‘That’s okay,’ he replies. ‘It’s your home too. I’m not usually up this early, but I’ve got a work thing.’

‘This early?’ I reply. ‘Wow. I’m not usually up this early either but… I can’t sleep. I thought I’d make myself a coffee, try to stay up for the day.’

I sigh midsentence. I don’t mean to, it just creeps out.

Adam looks at me for a second, the cogs turning in his brain, I’m just not sure why.

‘Do you want to come with me?’ he asks.

He grabs a pair of trackies and a T-shirt from the drying rack in the kitchen and throws them on.

‘Oh, I, er… to your work thing?’ I ask.

‘Yeah, it’s on the beach,’ he tells me. ‘It’s suspiciously bright out, not that cold, and the tide’s low. Good walking weather, if you don’t mind a bit of wind. I’m leaving now, but I’m going to grab a takeaway coffee from the hut on the beach. What do you think?’

‘Oh, I’m not dressed,’ I point out. ‘I don’t want to hold you up.’

Adam looks at the drying rack before grabbing another pair of trackies and a thick hoodie.

‘Here, wear these,’ he tells me. ‘It’s just the beach. No one dresses up at this time of year.’

I laugh. I want to say yes so badly. Fuck it, why not?

‘Yeah, okay, sure,’ I reply. ‘Do I have a few minutes to nip to the bathroom and brush my teeth?’

‘Of course,’ he says. ‘I’ll wait by the door.’

I don’t want to brush my teeth – well, I do, obviously – but what I really want to do is throw on a bit of make-up, lightning-fast. I want to look my best.

I put on Adam’s hoodie as I head up the stairs and, wow, it smells so good.

This is the last thing I expected to happen when I got up early, but suddenly I’m quite glad I couldn’t sleep. Let’s see where today takes me.

19

Adam and I chat as we walk to the beach. It’s such a beautiful, clear autumn morning. One that is actually worth getting up early for. I prefer the autumn when it’s like this, much warmer than it has been, so you get to enjoy the good bits without the minging weather.

‘This hoodie smells amazing,’ I tell him, holding the sleeves up to my nose.

‘I highly recommend getting Si to do your washing, if you can,’ he tells me with a cheeky smile.

‘I can’t believe he’s your brother,’ I blurt.

I didn’t plan on bringing it up so quickly, but I’ve done it now.

‘So, you two are old friends?’ he asks.

‘Rory, my brother, was Si’s best friend when they were kids,’ I say.

‘Yeah, before they fell out,’ Adam replies. ‘Honestly, when you opened the front door, and I saw you standing there, I forgot where I was for a moment. After we were locked in the toilet together, and you disappeared, I wondered if I would bump into you again. I think I’d just about made peace with the fact that you were probably a tourist, and I would never see you again. And then there you were.’

‘I did look for you, that night, but you must have left before me,’ I tell him. ‘But, yeah, weird night. Thanks, though, for being so amazing, because I don’t think I could have survived being trapped in a loo without you.’

‘Anytime,’ he says, laughing, probably at the idea of it being something that happens often.