I moved to the states a couple of years ago, with my father and mother's blessing, to fulfill my dream in science. I moved from Paris to San Francisco, and I brought Alex with me, or rather, she followed me.

Alex and I have known each other since we were kids. We know all about each other and I can't imagine what I would do without her. She has grown to be such an important person in my life that not only has lifted me up when I've been down but has pushed me when things have gotten way out of hand.

Since we moved, we have done everything together and not a day has gone by when I've not been with her, except when she's at work or when I'm at the library. I was supposed to graduate and get my Ph.D. last year. But, after the break up with my ex-boyfriend, I had no motivation at all. I was too broken and therefore I took a year off, while Alex graduated. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't have gone back.

After the weekend ended, we went back to our normal routines. Alex went to work and I went to the library, to struggle on my paper. After the day ended, we met outside the cafeteria where she works.

Every Tuesday, after Alex finishes her shift, we go to the grocery store to buy what we need for the week.

"Soo.." Alex starts, as we walk through the shelves. "Friday! Are you excited?"

"Yeah, I think so."

She glances at me.

"I mean yes, of course, I am Alex, but at the same time I'm nervous? This is new for me. I don't know what to say or how to act sober!"

I whine as we are making our way through the other side of the store.

And in a blink of an eye, my heart stops, and my body stops moving. My mind goes blank, I can't see the people passing me by, or hear the children crying. Only the individual, standing on the other side of the store.

"Well, take a drink before or somethi-" I grip Alex's arm and walk to the other side of where we are standing.

"Delphine, what are you doing?"

I don't hear her talking to me, as my only thought is to get away as fast as possible.

"Delphine!" Alex says loudly, and I am back.

"Shhh!"

"What in the name of God are you doing?" she asks.

"She's here!" I say in a low voice. I look everywhere, except at Alex.

"What? She? Who is she, Delphine? Care to explain so I know what I'm actually dealing with here?" Alex says, starting to get annoyed.

I look at her.

"Cosima is here!"

"What?! Where?" Alex looks around, turns from right to left. "Where? Where is she!"

I look around while I hide behind the shelves, and the next thing I know my eyes find her again. She is standing in the same spot where I first noticed her. I point my finger in her direction.

"There." I whisper. Alex follows my pointed finger, focused on Cosima.

"Damn that girl has some fire! Aren't you going to say hi? You're seeing her in three days." She says as she begins to walk away.

"No! "Alex, come back here!" I whisper, loud enough for her to hear me. She looks back once, and leaves me anyway, alone and hiding behind the shelves.

I have to do something because I can't hide any longer. Eventually, Alex will get what we need and drive home without me. Because, that's who she is, pushing me to my limits and making me move forward.

I take a deep breath and I begin following Alex, my eyes never leaving the floor. I thought I easily could slip away, but of course, the universe has its way.

She sees me, I sense her watching me but my eyes don't leave the floor until I hear her call my name. I remember her voice, soft and calming. When I hear my name, my body halts and I look up. She is walking towards me, right in front of me. Cosima raises her brow and smiles.

"Hi," I say huskily.

"Hi, you back." her voice is low. I can feel my face heating up as she looks at me.

"I guess this is my lucky day," she says and leans on the shelf.

"Why is that?" I ask, and I can't stop myself from looking at her and her big brown eyes.

"Because I get to see you twice this week," she says and leans in closer.

The blush I thought was gone came rushing back. Cosima grins and I don't know what to say. She clearly has the ability to leave me speechless, although it doesn't happen to me often. In fact, it has never happened before. And the reason why it's happening now is leaving me even more speechless.

"You are." I decide to say.

She moves back, putting some distance between us and begins to walk towards the cashier. I follow her, but I hear Alex calling my name.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

I glare at Alex, who seems to be enjoying this.

"Did you get what I asked for?" she continues and looks down at my hand, noticing the ketchup I'm holding.

"Oui!" I say and clear my throat.

"Well? Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Alex asks.

"Of course!" I turn my head to Cosima, who clearly has been listening to our conversation.

"Cosima, this is Alex. Alex, this is Cosima," I say and smile at them.

"Nice to meet you, Alex! Last time I saw you, you were being dragged out of the club, by this precious lady."

Cosima points her finger towards me and smirks. I can't stop myself from nudging her shoulder.

Alex clears her throat. "Pleasure is all mine! Sorry, I didn't think we had met?"

But she knew, I had told her about Cosima the day after I met her at the bar.

"Well, she kind of met you when we were in that club last Friday. We were talking when you decided to jump all over me."

I wink.

"Oh.. I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Alex teases.

"Mhm. No, not this time." Cosima says and grins after noticing my blush.

"Brat!" I whisper to her.

"Well Delphine, we should be getting going! I'll meet you in the car." Alex says, "It was nice meeting you Cosima."

As we begin to walk towards the exit, we haven't said a word but before I know it, she says, "I like your friend."

"Yeah, she's something special." I smile and turn my head to look at her, whose eyes are already on me.

I start to giggle.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing," she smiles. "I'm looking forward to seeing you again this Friday, that's all."

I stop in my tracks, but she keeps walking, not bothering to wait for me, or even turn around to look back to see my reaction. It takes me a while to regain myself, to keep walking after her, but I have lost sight of her.

I look around, searching for Alex, who probably is waiting for me in the car, but it turns out that I was wrong and I can't stop myself from smiling as I see Alex and Cosima talking to each other.

"Yeah totally! It sounds like a good idea." Cosima says, her voice is sweet as honey.

"Great!" Alex says.

Her eyes move my way when she notices me walking towards them.

"What sounds like a good idea?" I ask my curiosity taking over.

"We are going out on Friday together and I'll bring Kate with me," Alex explains.

"Alex thought it would be a great opportunity for me to hear some embarrassing stories about you."

Cosima looks at me with an amused grin.

"Sure." I smile.

"Well, we better get going, Delphine. See you on Friday, Cosima!" Alex says and we start walking to the car.

My eyes never leave Cosima's and I can't stop myself this time.

"What?" she giggles.

My eyes go from her eyes to her lips. I catch myself staring, so I'm looking down.

"See you on Friday then." I say low and smile.

"Friday it is." Her voice has the same tone and she smiles.

"Bye," I whisper and walk past her.

After we arrive home, Alex tries to talk about Cosima but I ignore her and say that I'm going to bed, which I do.

I wake up a few hours later and I go to the kitchen for a glass of water. I am not surprised to see Alex lying down on the sofa, her hands clutching the remote. Her eyes focus on me when I open the fridge. And as I close the door, I find Alex standing beside me.

"You really don't want to talk about it?" she asks.

I drink my water in peace.

"There's not much to say."

"You're pissed," she acknowledges.

"No, not really," I sigh as I sit down on the sofa. My eyes don't leave the TV.

"Then what is it?" she asks and mimics my movement.

I can feel her observing me, but I stay quiet. I am not really in the mood to argue with her. It only leads to us to not talking to each other for the rest of the week.

"It's just that," I start, "I was really looking forward to seeing Cosima this Friday."

And before she has time to answer I continue, "Alone."

"Oh," she says softly, "I just wanted to lend you a hand. Because I know that you tend to say things you shouldn't say when you're nervous. I know that you feel something for her, I mean it's pretty obvious that you can't keep your eyes off each other. And I really want you to be happy after, you know, him."

I absorb it, everything she says and I look at her.

"I love you, you know that right?" I say.

"I love you too" she smiles.

After hours of laughing, we decide to get some sleep, we say our "good nights" and go to our rooms.

I'm awake for a while a while, my mind takes over and I start to think about everything.

I'm really happy that Alex moved with me to San Francisco. She got me thinking about what she said, about wanting me to be happy.

I haven't been this happy since we moved to the states. I feel like a different person from when we lived in France. My parents were very strict, I did not have much freedom growing up. I was not allowed to go out at night with my friends, watch a movie or stay at Alex's for the night, which made me, as a young girl, very sad and jealous of my friends. I wanted what everybody wanted, freedom, fame, and attraction. I was shocked when I told them that I wanted to move to San Francisco. I was shocked because I was only nineteen years old and I never imagined myself moving away from my parents at that age.

Thinking back to how I had it then, it makes me appreciate everything now. So I thank my parents, for not letting me turn out to be somebody I wasn't. It has made me who I am today, and I couldn't be happier about it.