I was slightly panicked. I didn't really know anyone in London so there was nowhere to crash if we got stuck. I was also still quite confused. I'd only just woken up from my Noah-induced coma and the heavy unexpected snow was just too random an occurrence to process easily.

We thumped down the steps of the Tube station, hurried onto a carriage and waited impatiently for it to slither towards Victoria Station. Noah held my hand all the way, but not in an affectionate way more as if he was treating it like a stress ball. After fifteen minutes or so we jogged up the escalators and re-emerged onto the snow-filled streets, slipping every step or so. We ran to the information board at the station and stood in front of it, both shivering.

"Look," I said, pointing. "There's a train to Middletown...oh...it's cancelled."

In fact, as I looked up at the giant screen, I realized every departure had a blinking red light next to it announcing its cancellation.

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh indeed."

"What are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure."

My phone went off in my bag multiple times, its vibrating urgency matching our situation. I retrieved it and saw Mum had tried to call twice while I didn't have any signal on the Underground.

"Oh God. Mum's worried. I'll ring my parents and see if it's snowing at home," I said.

"Okay. I'll check the National Rail app and find out what's going on." Noah flipped open his phone with a scowl on his face.

I stomped my feet to try and keep them warm and dialled home.

Mum answered after only two rings.

"Poppy?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Oh dear. Where are you? It's snowing like crazy here. Please say you got home from London before it hit?" Her voice was slightly panicked but I could tell she was trying to cover it up.

"We're stuck at the train station. The ballet only finished twenty minutes ago. We didn't even know it'd been snowing."

"Well they're saying on the news that this snow was completely unpredicted, just like the storm. I don't like it. It was only a few days ago I was out in the garden wearing short sleeves. Poppy, what are you going to do? How are you going to get home?"

"I'm not sure."

"There must be some trains running?"

"Yes. Of course there will be."

Just as I finished saying that I heard Noah a few feet away from me, badgering a rail worker.

"So you're telling me there are absolutely no trains running for at least another four hours?" he said, a growl in his voice.

"Oh no."

"What is it?" Mum asked.

"I think the trains are a no-go."

More people had filtered into the train station, lots of them dressed for a night out too. They stood next to us, and I could see the panic form on their faces as they clocked the departures board. Noah was on the phone. I turned my attention back to Mum, who I could hear flapping.

"Oh my, Poppy. How are you going to get home?"

"I'm not sure." My stomach started knotting. More people streamed into the station as other shows finished and they began to pick on the railway workers in bright reflective jackets, demanding more information.

"Maybe I could ring Auntie Suzie? She might be able to take you in for the night."

I shuddered at the thought. My mum's sister was one of the most awkward people I'd ever come across. She was a very devout Catholic and lived alone in this large spooky town house in the furthest tip of north London.

"Hmm. I'm not sure how she would feel about me bringing Noah along as well."

Despite her worry, Mum laughed down the line.

"Yes. You're right. It might give her an early heart attack."

Noah was now off the phone and making hand gestures to me.

"Hang on, Mum, Noah's trying to say something. I'll call you back."

I flipped my phone closed. "What?"

"All sorted," he said, with an uncomfortable look on his face.

I didn't understand.

"I don't understand," I said.

"I've booked us a hotel room."

I shook my head in disbelief. "You've done what?"

"A hotel room."

"What about getting home?"

"Well, it's not going to happen, is it?"

"But..."

"But what?"

"Well, I don't have any money."

"It's okay. I just rang my parents. They've charged the suite to their company account."

I had to really shake my head this time to ensure my brain was working properly.

"Hang on. When did this hotel room become a suite?"

Noah did his casual shrug, but I could see through it. It was like he was trying to pretend everything was okay for my benefit, but he was obviously just as nervous.

"That's always what I mean whenever I get a hotel room."

"Of course. I forgot."

Noah cupped my face and forced me to stare into his eyes. "Poppy? Are you okay? It's only for the night. I just don't see how we're going to get back so I thought crashing in London was the only answer."

I looked back at him, calmed a little by his gaze. "I'm...fine. It's just, well, a bit of a shock, that's all."

"It's freak weather. Again. You just have to run with it when stuff like this happens."

I knew he was right but still felt a little dazed. And Noah seemed a little...off, too. I think he was trying to be the man all together but the situation was bothering him. I could tell. What about it though? I hoped he would tell me. An involuntary full-body shiver reminded me of how cold it was.

"This hotel?" I asked. "Is it nearby?"

Noah smiled, though it was strained.

"Just round the corner. Come on. Let's go."

And he walked me out of the train station, leaving the teeming mass of confused people wondering how they were ever going to get home.

The snow was still falling heavily as we weaved our way through the streets of the capital. My shoes were ruined and my feet soaked. Most people we encountered were still in headless-chicken mode, crunching through the wetness in evening finery with their phones clutched to their faces. I allowed myself to feel relief. We didn't have to get home tonight. It was going to be okay. I rang Mum and explained the plan. She seemed shocked but admitted it was the wisest thing to do.

"You say his parents have booked you a suite?"

I turned my face from Noah's and covered my mouth with my hand.

"Yeah. It's charged to the company account."

There was a pause as the neurotic cogs in Mum's brain whirred.

"Does this mean we have to pay them back?"

"I don't think so. I've offered but Noah refused. I don't think booking last-minute hotel suites is such a big deal for them as it is for us."

Sensing he was being talked about, Noah cocked his head and gave me a puzzled look.

"Gotta go, Mum." I hung up before he could overhear anything else.

Noah was right. The hotel was so close that we arrived within minutes. I stopped outside and stared. It wasn't just any old hotel it had massive marble steps leading up to the glass-fronted entrance and screamed five-star.

"Couldn't we have just stayed in a hostel?" I asked, eyeing the pretentious potted mini-trees lining the staircase. "This place seems a little...pricey."

Noah took my hand and led me up the steps. "When are you going to realize that money isn't really an issue for me? We may as well make the most of it."

A little man wearing a bowler hat came and held the door open. I thanked him, feeling guilty he had to come out into the cold, but Noah strode past him, slipping a note into his hand without looking.

It was odd seeing Noah like that. Okay, I knew he came from money. He had told me. But seeing him in this place, so accustomed to a way of life you're only comfortable with if you can afford to be, was like seeing a different person. I wasn't sure if I liked it. Or him. And the fact he had barely spoken since we left the train station wasn't helping.

Just the reception area of the hotel blew my mind. After the ballet, it was almost affluence overkill, and I was very aware that I didn't know the behaviour protocol. I tried to act nonchalant as I took in the lush red carpet, marble statues and high ceilings. But my mouth kept dropping open. And as Noah checked us in at the giant gold reception desk, I found myself saying "Thank you" at least a million times.

Noah was still...weird. He wouldn't say thank you to anyone and seemed distracted. I tried to hold his hand as we walked to the lift, but he just squeezed it then let it drop.

The lift was gold as well and I gawped as we shot up several floors. With a ping, the doors slid open onto a floor with only one door.

More gawping. "We get a whole floor?"

Noah shrugged. "It's a suite."

Okay. Something was definitely up.

"Of course."

Noah slid a black credit-card thing into the lock and the doors sprung open to reveal the plushest hotel room I'd ever seen in real life, or even in a magazine. It was more a luxury apartment than a hotel room. There was a living room with a cinema-size TV screen and a remote-controlled fire, and a bathroom with a bath you could swim laps in.

I let out a yelp and ran inside to examine everything more carefully.

"Noah, there are dressing gowns!" I yelled at him. "Actual dressing gowns, like in the movies."

No answer, but I was too excited to care.

I ran into the living room and flopped onto the sofa.

"You could actually fit twelve people on this sofa," I yelled again in his direction. "How did they fit it through the door? Ooo, look, chocolates!"

I ripped open the black box and delved into the layers. I picked a caramel and stuffed it into my mouth. Still a tad overexcited, I ran to the giant windows and ripped back the curtains.

I hadn't realized how high up we were. You could see the whole of London. Blobby snowflakes obscured my view slightly, but I could still see the city stretching out for miles. It looked much prettier than usual. All the grime and grey were on hold, replaced by a white-carpeted winter wonderland.

Although I was very excited, much of my enthusiasm was covering for Noah's sudden bad mood. I wasn't sure when it had come on, but he'd gone from perfect to weird somewhere between here and the train station. I was shivering, so thought the best thing was to leave him to stew and get myself warm.

"I'm having a bath."

Again, no answer. So I locked myself in the bathroom.

As the water gushed out of the fat gold taps, I experimented with all the free beauty goodies on display. I poured generous amounts of Molton Brown bubble bath in and opened up all the other bottles to smell them. When the bath was ready, I shrugged off my beautiful silk dress and gratefully sank into the hot bubbly water.

It was gorgeous. I hadn't realized how cold I'd got until I was submerged in the blissfully warm water. To my delight, pressing a button on the tap transformed the bath into a supersized jacuzzi. The pressure from the jets erased any stress I'd felt about the snow, getting home, and what was up with Noah. I even started singing "Kiss" by Prince at the top of my voice, trying to recreate the bath scene from Pretty Woman.

I floated about until the water turned cold, and emerged transformed. I climbed into an oversized dressing gown and walked into the bedroom with my half-damp hair swirling around my shoulders.

The bedroom's widescreen television was on and Noah was sitting on the bed watching it. Bad vibes still emanated from him and he barely registered the fact I was in the room. That was enough to make me worry, but then I saw something even worse.

Noah had constructed some elaborate barrier down the middle of the king-sized bed. He had collected all the decorative cushions off the sofa and combined them with spare pillows to create a big speed bump covered with a sheet. He was sitting on his side, intently watching the TV. It would have been less obvious if he'd drawn a line down the middle with paint.

A number of emotions ran through me. Panic. Upset. Hurt. Confusion. But anger won out. And before I had time to run through what I was going to say, I found myself running over, grabbing the remote, switching off the television and then hurling the remote at him.