I got the idea for this from the work of the very talented Empathist who wrote Real Arms Around Me, based on all the scenes between Ste and Brendan from the moment they reunited to the moment Brendan was torn apart from Ste. Her writing is incredible and it inspired me to write a descriptive piece based on all the times Ziggy told Tegan he loved her. One chapter for each 'I love you' moment. After watching Ziggy's death this week I wanted to write something, so if you followed their story for the past year please give it a read and let me know if you think it's worth continuing!

Have I Told You Lately?

One: Cinderella

Something has come over Ziggy lately. Every day he watches on as his friend Tegan bravely fights to beat cancer for the second time in her life, all while raising her baby daughter and dealing with the recent death of both of her parents. He does all he can to support her, and in truth he can't keep away from her these days. They've crept up on him, these feelings for her, so strong that he found himself grabbing his emergency underwear and toothbrush from the garage so he could join her on this sudden and actually quite worrying trip to her aunt's cottage.

It's not been as peaceful as she wanted since they arrived, and now they've come out for a walk and some fresh air. They're talking, and the conversation turns to the loss of her mum. It's then that it happens.

"Then other times, I hardly feel anything at all. Just a little bit annoyed that I've lost her. Like she's an odd sock."

"Yeah, and then she turns up down the back of the radiator covered in fluff."

"Exactly!"

"Only she doesn't, and the pain comes back again. I love you…"

He knows as soon as he's said it that she's never going to take him seriously. That's the affect 'special mushrooms' combined with her emotional state will have on the situation they've found themselves in. She looks bewildered, and a bit scared. Then she runs off and he follows her, wishing more than anything that he'd said the words sooner. He should have told her back at home, when she'd been making that video for Rose – it was then that he knew for sure how he felt.

He's pleading with her now, "Teegs, what happened to seizing the day?"

But this isn't a fairy tale, she argues. "I'm not Cinderella. I'm the sister with the big, flat, wide feet. And cancer."

He tries to find the words to tell her how much she means to him; whatever she thinks of herself, he wants her as she is. And nothing will change how he feels, not even her illness.

But she's worked herself up into a panic now, blurting out something about little Rose, and Diane O'Connor from the village. He can't understand what she's saying, and then she takes off again and he can't reach her this time.

It's hours before he sees her again, and during that time terror had started to set in. What if something had happened to her? The thought of never seeing her again made it even more certain for him, he tells her that night after she has warmed up from being stranded out in the woods.

"You'd be with Leela in a flash if she'd have you. She's your Cinderella," she argues softly, no doubt remembering how much he'd wanted her sister back just a few months ago. But that was before everything changed. Before the woman in front of him found her way into his heart and became his best friend while it was happening.

"But I want the one with the big flat feet," he says back. Only she doesn't want him; makes that as clear as possible. So all he can do is accept it and put it to the back of his mind – or try to. After all, she's right, isn't she? He does fall in love a lot. He'll just have to find a way to stop loving her.

The thing is, he's too convinced of what he's just told her.

It's different this time.