"Hazel Grace," Augustus said seriously, "you need to come over right now."

"Right now?" I smiled. "I don't know, I'm pretty busy."

I could almost see him raising his eyebrows. "Trust me. This is big."

Sighing, I twirled a lock of hair around my finger girlishly. "Well, if you insist..."

"i do," he said, not missing a beat, and this time I couldn't hold back a laugh. "Do you need a lift?"

"No, it's fine," I replied easily, "Besides, I wouldn't want to interrupt this big thing."

He chuckled, and there was a weird flip in my stomach that, for once, wasn't cancer-induced. "Okay. I'll see you soon."

"See you," I said, before hanging up. A sudden sadness struck me. It was a stupid thought to have after such a normal conversation, a nice one even, but I couldn't help but wonder when we wouldn't be seeing each other soon. It was a strange thought to have, but it hurt.

Augustus' mother answered the door, and the sight of me brought out a warm laugh. "Oh no, not you too." She shook her head as she stood to the side to let me, helpfully grabbing my tank for me and lifting it inside. "I haven't been able to stop him since he started."

"I have absolutely no idea why I'm here," I admitted, and she laughed again. "Should I be scared?"

"Oh, no, you'll see soon enough," she said with a smile. "Go on, he'll be waiting." She winked, before heading into the kitchen, where I could hear his sisters arguing.

Cautiously, I headed into his room. "Augus-oh."

Paper was scattered all over the floor, an explosion of different colours and styles, some of it half folded and thrown to the side, but most crisp and waiting to be manipulated by Augustus' fingers. Above us hung tens of paper birds, hung at different heights, all different sizes; it looked like they were flying, and it wasn't cancer that took my breath away. In the middle of it all sat Augustus, a piece of paper in his hands and a grin on his face.

"Oh," he repeated, "is that all, Hazel Grace? Has my beauty rendered you speechless?"

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly at his joke, my eyes (and breath) still with the birds. "This," I agreed, "is a big thing." He nodded, and I sank down unceremoniously beside him, taking a piece of sky blue paper. "Okay, I'm ready. Please master, show me your ways."

Eyes twinkling, he encased my hands in his, showing me, albeit awkwardly, how to fold the paper this way and that. Like everything else, what seemed so complicated turned out to be simple, and it was less than a minute later that we held a bird. I held it up to his eyes, and cocked my head to the side.

"Matches," I said simply.

"A girl who knows how to colour co-ordinate," he laughed, "what more could I want?"

Elbowing him gently, I reached for the spool of string and scissors that rested at his side, and worked about attaching to the bird. Then, I stood, and hung it up with the rest of the birds. It was no different, and I doubted if I'd be able to pick it out again, once I took my eyes away for a while. Silently, Augustus stood, and wrapped his arms around my waist carefully, his face in my neck.

A moment later, I asked, "what are you thinking?"

A pause. Then: "How I wish I could make a living out of this." His breath was warm against me, his words tickling my skin. I assumed 'this' was origami, and smiled. My Augustus, always looking for a way to mean something. "And how unfair it is that these birds are more alive than you."

I couldn't think of anything to say, so I turned and kissed him.

The truth was, he brought me to life.

That was a big thing, too