The floor seemed to shift beneath her bare feet. Tyler Henderson had known who she was the whole time. Of course he had, he’d called her Middleton, he’d knowingly let her blow him. Kate didn’t know whether to be flattered, disturbed, outraged, insulted or any other emotion on earth. “Mr Henderson, I don’t think you get it… I went down on you. And you touched me. And I went down on you and you came and I swallowed it.”

More painful silence. Kate wished she hadn’t put so much emphasis on the words ‘swallowed it.’

Ty pointed a ghostly hand towards the door. “This never happened. Get dressed and get back to your room, right fucking now.”

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Acknowledgments

I started First and Forever in December 2021, as another months-long lockdown lifted in Melbourne. Unlike in 2020, there was little celebration. Everyone was burned out and pretty resigned to disappointment. The world had changed and so had we, and as I started to attend gigs and birthday parties I realised exactly how much. I had a job I loved, the weather was perfect, I was free to see my friends and family, yet some part of me had internalised being trapped. I felt static. Confused. I second guessed everything.

From this place, I wrote about Willow and Eden Jade, two people who’ve found their passions—music and football—but are unsure about everything else. Willow wants the perfect wife and family, and Eden wants to get her life together. Neither of them understands why they can’t make it happen, but the fact is they’re too rigid. They’ve decided the only path to take is the one they’re already on. Neither is open to change, which means neither is really open to life. But as Jeff Goldblum says in that movie, life always finds a way.

We all have ideas about what we want—to play music or write novels, to travel or get married—but we wildly overestimate what’s in our power to control and we often stagnate rather than keep moving forward and risk the unknown. But that’s okay, fate—that sly, loveable cunt—always steps in and lends a hand. I love stories where love not only brings joy, but change. I like when love forces people out of their comfort zones and asks more of them than they were prepared to give, yet they give it because holy fuck, how could they not? That other person makes life electric.