A childlike infatuation, it was built on nothing tangible but led to something beautiful.
We went to the shops, as young people do, and I walked her home where I was politely invited in to sleep on the floor downstairs.
Saying goodnight, I went to the living room only to find a tall man a little older than me sitting on the sofa where I planned to sleep.
Introducing himself as Joe, he offered me a Gamecube controller and asked if I wanted to play.
We played all night, laughing, losing and sharing our favourite comic books, sci-fi series, and cartoons.
Introduced to his friends, soon this was all I did. As a primary group of four, we spent most of our evenings together playing Super Smash Bros, a game where you fight as an assortment of Nintendo characters.
