'Found your book', he says.

I nod at him, the silent gesture reaffirming the undisputed fact that the boy in front of me holds my soul, my heart, my being, and everything in between.

'I can see that' I say, pointing to the Little Prince book that is currently encompassed in his hands.

'So, you're not sick' he says, shuffling around, not really knowing what to do. He mirrors my exact thinking.

'No, I'm not' I say back to him. We both stare at each other wondering who will make the first move.

Eventually, I take it upon myself to do it and I move forwards towards him. He moves as well, intercepting my walk. We press ourselves against each other in a tight embrace, and hug as if there was no tomorrow. Eventually, one of us finds the strength to pull apart but I don't know who because of the close proximity we have to each other. Our lips press together and the kiss I was waiting for truly was worth waiting for. We break apart after what feels like an eternity and we gasp, trying to get air. I can feel his breath on my shoulder. It's hot, but reassuring. It's a symbol to ground me, knowing that what is happening right now is really happening, not a dream, or a fantasy world concocted by an author.

'I always wondered what it would be like to make out in a bookshop. Now I know' says Olly, a mischievous grin forming on his face.

'Really, you've always wanted to know what kissing in a bookshop feels like?' I ask him, the sarcasm coming through.

'No, of course not. Who would? But at least I know' he replies and we both laugh at this.

I look into his eyes and see a world of possibilities with this boy that I'm with, most of which involve snogging this boy until the end of eternity. But obviously that's not realistic so I'll have to settle for kissing him in the here and now while I still can.

'What are you looking at?' he asks when he realises I am staring into his eyes.

'Nothing, just you' I say, releasing my gaze from him. 'What next?'

'I guess I show you where I've been living' says Olly. 'Where you'll be living as well.'

I blush at the thought of living with him. I wonder how it will work. The idea soon begins to make its way into a full-scale plan in my head with every little detail being accounted for. I'm pulled back to the present by Olly's guiding arm leading us out of the book store, book in hand. The anticipation grows with every step as we cross road after road in the 'concrete jungle' that is New York City. The myriad of buildings, yellow taxis and people utterly amaze me as I have never been this open or surrounded by so many people. Of course, to these people it is truly second nature but to me it feels like a whole new world, to quote Aladdin.

The many wonderings of my mind seem inconsequential as I walk through the metropolis. I have no idea where I am going or what I am going to do now that I am here, but I just hold onto Olly's hand and let him guide me, like a fairy godmother. Now I think about it, he would look good in a tutu with fairy wings. I giggle to myself at this thought. He looks over at me with a puzzled look, as if to say, it's just a city what's so funny.

'What's so funny?' he asks, mirroring my thoughts.

'Nothing' I say through a mischievous grin.

'Okay, if you say so' he says while looking back at me. 'Come on, I wanna show you Central Park.'

'Okay' I say, and we start walking down another busy street towards the huge park that lies in the middle of New York City.

Its common knowledge that when you descend into the madness of looking at someone with the viewpoint that I have of Olly, you can never stop thinking about them. You want to be with them every second of every day. You want to have a million holidays in Hawaii which end ins life-threatening trip to the hospital. But what they don't tell you is the anguish that comes with it only makes it that much better. The sad times matter just as much as the good. They make you a better person and a better couple. It's all well and good treasuring each other but getting through the bad times is a testament to the strength and your will to keep the relationship going. Now, our bad experience may have been a lot more intense than others, but the fact that we both made it through and that I am alive and breathing right here to experience the fruits of my labours matters to me as much as the boy I'm currently running away from in Central Park.

'Maddy, wait up' he calls.

'Catch me if you can' I shout back.

'Believe me, I will' and he sprints to catch up with me. It doesn't take him long, his legs are much longer than mine, and he is a lot faster than I am. He grabs my arm and swings me around to face him. Then, he kisses me. It doesn't last long as we are both out of breath, but it still lingers, as his always do. The journey to his house

is taking longer than I first anticipated, but it's not so far away that it is too much for me to handle. I'm still getting used to this whole outside thing, even six months later. It's been a rough ride. The memories of my daily life still haunt me, like a painful reminder of a 17-year prison sentence in my own home, under house arrest in a bio-secure environment. And my mother was the one who kept me there. I hope that one day I will forgive her. But for now, I prefer not to think about her. At first, I revelled in every breath that I took stepping outside into the wilderness as my immune system slowly rebuilt itself after years of filtered air and SCID treatments.

Eventually, after endlessly weaving through the metropolis we turn into his street and I am presented with my first view of Olly's house. A typical New York house, it's nothing fancy nor huge, but not small either. It's windows are painted white around the edges and the brick structure looks like a suitable habitat for a creature of my tastes. But of course, there is more to this than meets the eye. As he opens the door, and I drag the suitcase that I have been wheeling around into the hallway, I see the walls, covered in a wallpaper with flowers on it. I notice a staircase with a brown bannister. I see a shoe rack with white converses on it.

Honestly, to the average American teen, this probably looks like what they walk into every day. But to me, who has hardly ever had the pleasure of going to a friend's (boyfriend's) house, it looks like an alien world, that is being explored by humans for the first time. The way in which everything is not white is more amazing than perhaps it should be, but I am more than content in appreciating the little details. It doesn't smell like bleach; it doesn't feel like everything is being disinfected just so I don't die from touching a piece of Styrofoam™.

His mother comes into the hallway and greets me.

'Hello Maddie' she says, a smile on her face. 'How are you?'

'I'm good, great even' I say. 'How about you?'

'In all honesty, I'm much better' she says, in a gentle tone. 'New York is such a nice place and… well, let's just say that anything after what I've been through is an improvement.'

'Good for you' I say, trying to sound as unsarcastic as I possibly can. 'Sounds like a positive transition.'

'Thank you' she says. 'What do you plan to do, now that you're in the Big Apple?'

'I'm gonna apply to NYU' I say. 'For a course in Urban Design and Architecture Studies, I think it's called. My old teacher has already given me a review, and a good one at that.'

'Well, that sounds brilliant' she says. 'And… if you don't mind me asking, how are things going between you and your mother.'

'Mum' Olly says with a slight annoyance in his voice.

'Olly, it's fine' I say, smiling at him before turning to face her. 'It's got a long way to go, but the foundations are starting to be rebuilt.

'Just make sure you have enough people around you to support you. It's important, as I know first-hand. I'm always here' she replies.

'Thank you' I say again. 'It's nice to know I have options.' This remark garners a chuckle from her.

'Well, I expect Olly will be showing you his room' she says. 'One more thing, While you're under my roof, you are free to sleep in the same bed, but please… try to keep quiet.' I blush at this and Olly just laughs and drags me away before any more damage can be done.

He leads me out of the kitchen, grabs my suitcase and I follow him as we head up the stairs. There are pictures as I walk up the stairs, inspirational messages depicted as well as pictures of Olly, his sister, and his mum, presumably from past holidays. I don't notice their Dad in any of the pictures, but why would I? He caused them literal Hell. Anyway, we reach the top of the stairs turn left and there is his room, now mine as well. It's big, big enough hopefully to support the two of us even with all my clothes. Well, I don't have much, but I ditched all of the white stuff I wore when I was trapped beforehand. It's a much more diverse wardrobe now. I even dared to wear some black things. Could you imagine?

But the bed itself as well appears to be big enough. I hope it's big enough, I tend to want large amounts of duvet. I remember when he told me that he woke up a few times on our night together in Hawaii because I had the duvet all to myself. In the same fashion it appears this duvet will be leaving Olly half covered on most nights. Not that he complains. And if he does, female privilege in a relationship will save me. The room itself is covered in skating posters, as if he had been born 10 years ago. But of course, Olly was never one to be 'normal.' He was mine and I had him in my grasp finally. It had been so hard without him and I just wanted to be with him now. No more lies about my health. No more deadly viruses to worry about, like the common cold. I just needed to get my immune system healthy enough and I would be as healthy as ever.

He moves round the bed, patting on the right side and says, 'This side is mine.'

'Oh yeah?' I speak. 'I wouldn't be so sure about that.'

'Wouldn't I?' he asks back, with equal mocking. 'Well how about we decide who gets which side?'

'Okay' I begin to say. 'How do you propose we-' but before I can finish my sentence, he jumps over the bed and tackles me onto it.

'Wrestling match' he whispers in my ear.

'You're on' I say and try to get out of it. But Olly has pinned me down expertly and I can't get up. Eventually I have to tap out and concede that Olly wins his side of the bed. That is until I grab one of the pillows and hit him in his left torso with it.

'Whittier, you sly dog' he says to me, a mischievous grin on his face.

'I learnt from the best, Bright' I say back to him.

He arms himself with a pillow and we start having a pillow fight. We move around the room, trying to land hits left, right and centre. I'm being careful trying not to hit any of the belongings or possessions in his room. He, on the other hand doesn't seem to care as he knocks off books and eventually almost knocks off an artefact of some kind that he quickly catches with his fast reflexes. I smile to myself as I remember just how fast he can be. There is no quarter given though as, quickly as he caught it, he has put the artefact back on his shelf and is trying to hit me with the pillow again. I take heavy damage, but I keep soldiering on. It's more than a battle, it's a full-on war as we keep landing hits on each other. Eventually, my stamina begins to wain though and I fall onto the bed, our battleground for the ages, and he falls alongside me and stares into my eyes. I really with all my heart believe that I have found my place in the world and it is alongside this boy next to me, always and forever.

The way it had began I never wanted it to end. I soon found out however that this was not going to be easy. Even though I was living with the one person I never wanted to leave, it soon became clear that my studies were gonna come first and affect my time with Olly. After a couple of weeks of settling into my uni period, my first classes started, and I had to do a lot more work than I had been anticipating. The perks of going to a new university I guess. Olly has always been nothing short of supportive though and it means so much to me to have him as my rock in this time where I'm still a fledgling member of the University, and the City as a whole. The work piles up of course, but I've always been a fast worker and so I get all of it done in no time at all.

The weekend is my time free as I spend my weekdays doing my work and conversing with Olly in between, the weekend finally comes. I actually have a three-day weekend as my schedule is kind enough, so I have no lectures or classes on Friday. So, on Friday We go out and truly explore the wonders that New York has to offer. The Empire State Building, Times Square. I wanna go and see the Statue of Liberty, and everything else, but pretty soon I get tired from all the walking as my lungs still get used to actually breathing fresh air. The air itself is crisp, but not too crisp. It's a cool breeze which is really nice on the face and helps me breathe easier. Eventually, once my breath is back we slowly but surely head back towards his, and indeed my own house now.

'Do you wanna watch a movie or something tonight?' I ask him.

'I actually had something else planned' he says back to me.

'Do tell' I reply.

'No no, you'll see' he responds. 'Now go pack a bag, we're going on a trip and we won't be back till Sunday night.'

'Where are we going?' I eagerly ask. He doesn't respond and instead just stares at me as if to say, 'no more questions, you go and pack.'

I head upstairs and I pack as fast as I can and I'm ready in 15 minutes. He grabs the car keys from his mum, and we head off away from the city heading what I believe to be east. I catch a sign that says, 'Long Island.'

'Olly, are we going to Long Island?' I ask him, trying to contain my excitement.

'Yeah we are' he replies calmly. 'We have a cabin waiting for us in Montauk.'

'Olly' I squeal. 'You're the best!'

'I know I am' he says smugly, and we continue driving towards Montauk, listening to the radio, and occasionally just looking out at the sea against the sunset sky. We get there and I unpack, it's an amazing cabin. I pause to ask myself if my boyfriend is a bank robber, because this must cost so much. 'I soon put that thought out of my head as I think to myself 'I really am so lucky.' Eventually, we settle down to watch that movie I proposed earlier and as I look at him, his eyes meet mine and my heart flutters as I truly realise I have everything, everything I ever wanted in life and I wouldn't give it up for anything. I love you Olly.