Chapter 3:

I, Hazel Grace Lancaster, died in my sleep on Saturday, September 27th, at 3

A.M.; two days before my seventeenth birthday. I died without saying goodbye

to my parents, Isaac, or my support group. I died mourning for my beloved

Augustus. The last words I spoke were, "I'm okay. Goodnight. I love you."

My name would soon be added onto the list of people who died in our support

group; I'll be written right next to Augustus, where I was meant to be.

I looked up at Gus. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't find the will to. Was it even

possible to cry in the afterlife?

The afterlife. Life after death. Death. My life on Earth was over.

Gus held me in his arms. We stood in there in completely silence. Nobody else

was around but us. Silence was one of the scariest parts of being dead. I spoke

just to hear my own voice. "I love you."

Gus smiled. "Come on. I wanna show you something."

He brought me to the cherry blossom trees at the end of my neighborhood.

Before, they looked practically dead. Now, they were enhanced with shades of

pink and white. The velvety petals fell down one by one; drifting slowly down,

then falling all at once.

Gus reached out for my hand. "Hazel Grace. I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm

sorry this happened to us. No matter what, I will never forget our little infinity

on Earth. I love you. Today is a new day. We can live the life we were supposed

to have. Today is the start of our new infinity. This time, it truly will be infinite."

He got down on one knee and smiled his crooked smile. "Hazel Grace Lancaster

… will you marry me?"

Crying was possible in the afterlife. With tears streaming down both of our faces

I said, "Yes Augustus Waters. It would be a privilege to be married to you."