The air was cool for May, but not too cool. I looked up at the sky as I made my way through the streets that I knew so well. The pavements were completely void of people on my way to the park, I had stayed away from it for far too long and I felt in need of some alone time and space to think away from all of the hustle and bustle of my house and the persona of Annalise that felt staged and was nothing more than an act to keep my parents happy. I guess I'm happier now, but making such big and drastic improvements in my life was never going to be easy. It was nice to not have to pretend.

As I reached the park, I scrambled my way up the tree - which resulted in a bleeding knee and ripped tights, but I didn't care. I was back in my space, so nothing really mattered in that moment. As I wriggled my way to a more comfortable position on the wide branch, my mind drifted to Milly and my blog and everything that had brought with it. The words I typed into my computer were suddenly transforming me into a likeable, friendly person and somebody worth admiring and looking up to. It didn't seem to matter that I had made enough mistakes to create three novels worth of regrets that took up pages and pages. It didn't seem to matter that I had fucked up badly and had pretty questionable morals when I was writing letters to the rest of the world. It made me feel like a better person than I thought I could end up being.

Who would have thought that an online blog could save so many lives?

"You know, it looks a little bit suspicious to be sitting in a tree at dusk-" I almost fell off of my branch in shock as I heard a stranger's voice talk to me from a couple of metres below. Clinging to the branch like a limpet, I breathed deeply to try and lower my heart rate from the surprise.

"You know, you really shouldn't scare somebody who is sitting in a tree. I swear I almost fucking died just now and it would have been your fault." I said bitterly before making an effort to peer down through the branches to find out which unknown London citizen was a little bit too keen to watch me plummet out of the sky to my inevitable death. There would have been a time where I had been happy to have done so as well, but unfortunately (and fortunately) those times and urges seemed to have made their way to a distant and far off land.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you or upset you, but I would still really appreciate it if you could get down from that tree." I heard the voice continue. The man's voice? Yes, it was definitely a man. Or a boy. There was a pause.

"What if I don't get down?" I asked curiously, cautiously, letting my legs swing back and forth on each side of the trunk. There was no answer for a couple minutes and, just as I started to come to the conclusion that he had simply left me alone again, I heard the leaves below me rustle and a head popped up. The head that belonged to the body that belonged to the voice. He was smiling but, even in the dim and grey toned lighting, I was able to tell that it didn't reach his eyes. I just sat still as he shinned across a different branch and sat a short distance away, facing me.

"Hello, tree girl." He said to me, running his fingers across the bark. I tried to keep my face as blank as possible to disguise the confusion I was experiencing.

"I thought that you wanted me down from here?" I started snappily before realising how rude I sounded. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it in that way at all-" I flushed red and was very relieved that my face was partially obstructed by some leaves and twigs. I wasn't a fan of being emotionally vulnerable in front of a guy I'd just met who could push me away. Quite literally push me away and out of a tree.

"Nah, no problem, it's fine. I only came up because there was practically no chance of you coming down just because a random guy asked you to," There was another pause. He stuck his hand out and I flinched slightly from nerves. "I'm Seb. Sebastian. I've just moved here, well a couple of weeks ago. I've not seen you around before?"

Goodness me, he's talkative. Talkative and would be slightly cocky if we weren't sitting in a tree. It's tricky for anyone to seem egotistical when you're several feet off of the ground.

"I'm Annalise. Or Annie. Whichever you prefer to use. And the reason you haven't seen me is because I spend my time in my bedroom. On a laptop. Avoiding my family. Trying to please myself and everyone else."

"Oh..."

"I used to be here all of the time, you know," I started indignantly, "But life got in the way, okay? So, Seb, also known as Sebastian, this is my spot and I'm not just going to let you waltz in and snatch it from under my nose..." I immediately stopped, wishing that I could take back every single word that had left my lips over the past five minutes. Seb looked shocked and a little bit hurt as my heart flipped into paracosms of guilt.

"If you wanted me to leave you alone, you could have just said so," he mumbled sadly before moving towards his route back to the floor. "But at least follow me down to ease my mind, Annalise." he pleaded, and I found it slightly bemusing that he felt so much emotion towards a strange girl whom he had never met before. But, after looking at his expression for a couple of moments longer, I knew that I should save him the anxiety and just do what he said. It wasn't as if he had been nasty, other than almost scaring me out of a tree - still not over it.

"Fine... But I'm going first. I'm not a follower." I scrambled down and felt my skin snag against a rough bump of the bark but chose to ignore it. As I felt my feet make contact with the floor, I looked up and he was standing right next to me.

Now, I don't think I am able to judge, but this guy is a little bit strange.

"So, Seb..." I began. "What brings you here?" There was a thoughtful pause before he let out a laugh that seemed barely genuine but well practised. When I didn't fill in the pause with my own words, he started to answer in quiet and hurried yet clipped words.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Annie, but I did a stupid thing. Wait, that sounds very attention seeking, I didn't mean it like that, I swear-"

"Seb."

"Sorry. I'm not sure about dumping my problems on a girl that I found sat in a tree at an odd hour. I don't know if you'd be able to understand it... Deal with it..." He started stammering when storm clouds crossed my face as a visible signal, serving to be a reminder to tread carefully and to use his next few breaths wisely.

"I think I can deal with more than you'd think," I said with an arched eyebrow and a slightly acidic tone to my voice. "The shit I've been through has told me that. So, go ahead." I waited and waited and waited, taking a moment to look up at the stars which were starting to make more of an appearance. I could see Seb squirm with discomfort and, for a fleeting moment, was all too aware of what he was feeling and the inner emotional turmoil I was putting him through. It was cruel and mostly unnecessary, I realised that just when he spoke up.

"I've lived here for such a brief amount of time yet I've somehow managed to ruin the lives of two girls in different ways."

Paused again.

"I feel like this sounds fucking dumb, Annie..."

"It only sounds stupid because you keep protesting and haven't actually told me anything other than you made a move that seems to be incredibly sexist and problematic... I think you'd better explain this one well, Sebastian." I was surprised by the eloquence and gentle anger with which I expressed my thoughts on the situation. It wasn't like me, but maybe being in a park with a stranger had twisted and warped my brain a little. He sighed and shook his head.

"I know, I know. It sounds bad, it is bad. I don't really want to get into it, but now I guess I have to explain myself - just like you said," He took a seat at the base of the tree, patting the space on the floor next to him to tell me to sit. For once, I did as I was told and settled myself alongside him.

"I used to know this girl, and I was convinced that she was the girl of my dreams, you know how it is. One of those crushes that you somehow manage to convince yourself will go somewhere but they never actually do. The thing is, I moved away - as you know because I'm here right now - and she had somehow managed to get a hold of my phone number from an old mate of mine, I assume. We've sort of loosely stayed in contact but I had moved on from her pretty quickly-"

"She can't really have been that important to you..." I scoffed quietly, but not in an inherently unkind way.

"Hmm?" Seb said, he clearly hadn't heard me properly.

"Nothing, please go on," I responded simply before looking at my hands which were laying in my lap.

"This is where it gets confusing and complicated. I really don't know how or why this happened and came to be. But now I'm at a new school and the girl I like is suddenly pregnant and I think it's mine and I don't know what to do..." I raised an eyebrow at him in shock and mild concern.

"You weren't joking when you said it was bad, were you..." I spat out in a mix of horror and pity. The air around us was still and I wondered what a passer by would think if they saw us now. They would probably jump to the conclusion that we had something between us, and that was when I realised how odd it was for me to be sat with a boy who was pouring out his entire fucking life story. Odd and not entirely safe.

"I wasn't. It's a great big, colossal mess. I wish that I could fix it but it's too late now, it always is." Seb said sullenly. Pushing him away, I looked into his eyes.

"You might not be able to change anything about your situation but there's not, funnily enough, a lot that you can do, is there? All that matters is the life - two lives, even - that are in your hands. You got a girl knocked up, it's your deal. You can either leave her, pretend that this whole mess never happened and move on with your life saying you are single with no kids when you know the truth. You can make no contribution to her life, financially or emotionally and leave her in the dark. That's what you would do if you were a dick, Seb. Or, you can be a morally correct person and stay with her. Stick by her side and help her through it, because at the end of the day, that's your kid, isn't it? Up to you, at the end of the day." There was a stunned silence, a badly disguised jaw drop before Seb nodded at me slowly.

"Thanks Annalise. You're a real one."

And then he simply stood up and walked away. I knew that I wouldn't see him again.