A moment passed, perhaps half a second when their faces said what they felt, and then Emma was smiling, laughing, her arms around his neck.

…surprised all over again at how very comforting very bad food can be.

He has found himself more and more reliant on her at exactly the point that she has become less available to him.

And of course there is always joy in witnessing the joy of others

For the best part of my childhood I visited the local library three or four times a week, hunching in the stacks on a foam rubber stool and devouring children's fiction, classics, salacious thrillers, horror and sci-fi, books about cinema and origami and natural history, to the point where my parents encouraged me to read a little less.

He could feel her laughter against his chest, and at that moment he thought that there was no better feeling than making Emma Morley laugh.

I love that sound,' he mumbled into her hair. 'Blackbirds at dawn.' 'I hate it. Makes me think I've done something I'll regret.