Over the years, I had come to understand many things, but one was the clearest of all: you can survive anything if only you have one true friend.

Without knowing it, we became soul sisters

I knew then that this hug had been the greatest teacher of my young life.

I suddenly felt the weight lift off my shoulders as the whole world seemed wild and wonderful. I closed my eyes, holding my breath, trying to hold onto the moment. I wanted to forget that it wouldn't last forever. I wanted to forget that I couldn't be the wind. I wanted to forget that when the car stopped, I would be me and he would be him again.

In a way, Nellie Smith’s hot chocolate changed everything

There had not been an attachment to it; it wasn't supposed to change me, it wasn't supposed to make me do anything and, for the first time, it had stopped feeling odd or as though I didn't deserve it, I had learnt to let myself be loved.

For this brief moment, he was the anchor and I was the boat caught in my sea of doubt and despair until we were back in his house where everything seemed to be so ordinary.

We lay in each other's arms, rescuing each other from drowning. Each of us needed the other more than we were able to say. On this very odd night, the world could have gone down, and we would have been okay.