But her reaction spurred me on.

"Seriously, what happened to you to make you like this? How can you be so heartless?"

She stood up. "I said, that's enough." Her voice was sharp now.

I saw a tiny flicker of pain cross her face. That was enough. I got it.

"This happened to you, didn't it?" I said, proud of myself for working it out. "You have a match, don't you? And you've been separated and that's why you're so nasty."

Her lower lip trembled slightly. "Stop being silly, Poppy."

I had hit on something.

"How does it feel?" I asked, refusing to let this go, tears ebbing. "To break up happy lovers for a living? What do you think your match would make of you now? If he knew you now actually worked for the people that split you up? Do you think he'd still love you? Or would he be so disgusted that it would destroy whatever electricity you shared? 'Cause that's all love is to you, isn't it? Electricity? Science?"

"I TOLD YOU THAT'S ENOUGH!"

She was standing now, her face red, furious. I smiled triumphantly.

"We are in the process of conditioning your boyfriend." She used the mention of Noah like ammo. "By this afternoon the two of you need to make a decision. There are only two options. Help us or never see each other again. Have fun deciding."

She stormed out of my cell, telling the guards to lock the door behind her.

I was left alone for several hours.

Once the tears and anger had subsided, I began to think about love.

I had never felt it was worth wasting much thought on the subject before Noah. But I'd been the odd one out. I thought about all the romantic novels Amanda devoured or the romcom films Ruth was so obsessed with. Even Lizzie had told me she was waiting for love. Yet, as I'd seen it, it wasn't a concept that ever lived up to the expectation. We'd been conditioned into believing in happily ever after, but did it really exist? Dr. Beaumont had told me explicitly that, for most people, true love wasn't real. It was just couples kidding themselves, smelling pheromones, trying to live out a Disney-inspired fantasy. Yet those couples supposedly living a lie still weren't that happy. Mum and Dad were practically the only couple on our road that hadn't divorced. It was so common these days relationships seemed to break up as easily as thin sheets of ice. And here I was, with scientific proof that I'd actually managed to stumble across my one true love, and things were even worse. True love, make-believe love it was all the same. It ended in misery. And that truth was so universally hard to accept that we'd made up fairy stories and happy endings to cushion the blow.

I thought about what Anita had said. Would I do it all again? Falling in love with Noah had left me with a dependence I'd never thought I could stand. He was now my other half. And we were going to be separated. For ever. I was going to feel incomplete for the rest of my life. I would be missing a part until I died. It was my burden. But if someone could wave a magic wand so I'd never meet him and erase the last few months, I wouldn't let them.

I felt utterly blessed that I'd had that time.

That's maybe why we do all hang onto love. Because matches or not, real or fantasy, those snippets of love are the only moments in life when you're ever truly happy, when all the shit feels worthwhile. It's like the world stops revolving just so it has time to look through your window and note your euphoria.

That's worth the pain. Don't you think?

Musings aside, I was terrified and I had no Noah to make me strong. The pool of light on the floor of my cell moved slowly towards the wall as the sun sank lower in the sky.

Evening was coming.

Decisions needed to be made and I didn't know what the right answers were. I lay on my back and stared at the ceiling. My hands rested on my ribs as I felt my breath move in and out. Tears continued to flow silently and solemnly from the sides of my eyes and dripped down into my hair.

Soon it was dark.

My thoughts were interrupted by my cell door opening. That Rain chap was there. He gave me a little embarrassed half-wave.

I glared back in return.

"You hungry?"

I shook my head.

"You should eat."

I didn't reply.

"Suit yourself."

He came and sat on the chair, man-style, turning it backwards and straddling it. It felt a bit too informal considering the circumstances.

He spoke softly and with much more empathy than his colleague. "I believe Dr. Beaumont ran through your options?"

I snorted. "I would hardly call them options."

Rain gave me a sad smile. "Well, what do you suggest?"

"You let both of us go and trust us not to cause any more trouble?"

Rain shook his head. "You know that's not possible. We've tried it before. The consequences have been..."

"Yes I know, dire, death, terrible. It would be different with Noah and me. We're responsible."

Another sad smile. "That's what others have said in the past. Your attraction is too strong. You can't help it. It's not your fault."

"Then why have you locked me up like a convict?"

Rain looked round the interior of my current bedroom. "Yes, the British facilities are a bit...prisony...I suppose."

"No doubt in America I would have had an en-suite and my own parking space?"

Rain smiled again. "Not quite. But it's a bit nicer."

I looked back at the ceiling, wondering what was going to happen next.

"Why are you here?"

I heard him mumble something.

"What was that?"

He coughed. "I said, Anita's given you your options and we were wondering if you've made a decision?"

I laughed. "Are you kidding? How am I ever supposed to make that decision? It's unmakeable."

"That's what we figured," Rain said. "Anyway, if you agree to help us with our studies we'll need both of you. It needs to be a mutual decision."

"And how do you expect us to work that out? With us cooped up in separate cells?"

"We've decided to let you talk it through with each other."

I leaped up off the bed. "You mean I get to see Noah?"

My eyes were wide, a tidal wave of butterflies raced through my stomach, and a smile spread from ear to ear. I ran towards Rain, about to give him a hug of gratitude.

He raised his hands up. "Calm down, calm down."

"When do I get to see him?"

"Calm down! Look, you're not going to able to get close to each other. You get that?"

I nodded furiously.

"And just because we're allowing you to see him doesn't mean anything has changed."

More nodding.

"And you've got to be careful," he said, a slight quiver of fear in his voice. "Remember what you're capable of, Poppy." His eyes softened. "You don't want to hurt any more people."

I nodded once more in agreement, then waited patiently for him to speak again. When he didn't, my words came flooding out. "So when can I see him? Now?"

Rain smiled, despite himself I think. He nodded.

I raked my hands through my hair and then jumped backwards.

"Oh no! I must look like hell! Do I look okay?" I hadn't seen my reflection in two days. I hadn't even washed.

Rain's smile broadened. I decided he was sort of okay.

"You look lovely," he said, like I was his daughter about to flounce off to a prom. "And Noah is your match, remember? He's going to think you look fabulous even if you're wearing a sack."

Still, though, I ran over to the little sink and splashed my face with water.

"Okay. All done. Can we go now?" Desperation was raging through my skin so violently I almost wanted to scratch it out.

"Let's go."

Rain led me down another confusing maze of corridors and I scuttled beside him, trying to grab glimpses of my reflection in the windows. Finally he stopped outside a door and unlocked it.

"Noah's already inside." My heart leaped just knowing he was near. "You'll be watched through mirrored glass." I opened my mouth to object. "It's okay. We won't be able to hear you but we need to keep an eye on you. Now listen carefully. A glass divide will stop you touching. It's for everybody's own protection. There's a small hole, however, that allows you to hold hands. If either of you do ANYTHING to try and break the glass, you'll be separated immediately and we'll decide your futures for you. Are we clear?"

I gulped.

"Right, in you go."

Rain turned the handle and I burst past him and ran inside. And there looking crumpled but still beautiful he was.

"Noah," I yelled, and ran at him.

His face broke into that delicious smile. "Poppy."

I smacked into the glass, unable to get closer. It was so clean you could barely see it but it spread solidly across the room. When I tapped on it with my hand it was thick and strong.

I burst into tears immediately. "I can't get to you," I said, wailing.

"Shh. It's okay. Sit down at the table and we can hold hands."

There was a table that cut through the glass with a small narrow gap at the top.

I sat and stretched my hand through. Noah clasped it. Feeling his touch sent shocks all through my body as I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.

The lights of the lab flickered.

Noah still had a half-smile on his face. "Careful," he said, looking up at the lights. "You don't want to blow the place up. Then we really would be terrorists."

I couldn't believe he was making a joke. It made me love him even more. I grabbed at his fingers, squeezing each one hard to check they were real.

"Don't cry, Poppy. It's going to be okay."

I cried harder. "How can it possibly be okay?" I shouted. "They're splitting us up. Didn't they tell you? We caused the blackout, and the flooding-"

Noah rolled his eyes. "And the snowstorm and the earthquake, yes I know, I know."

"But not just that, Noah. People have died. Because of us." I sobbed harder and Noah shushed me in a soothing parental way.

"Poppy, that wasn't our fault. We didn't know. We couldn't have helped it."

"It's just so scary. Everything's so messed up."

"I know. I know. Ssh, you're okay." He stroked the inside of my thumb with his and the movement calmed me. I looked deep into his dark beautiful eyes and searched his face for answers.

"Did they tell you our options?" I whispered.

Noah looked angry. "I would hardly call them options."

I squeezed his hand. "We can still be together...if we cooperate with..."

Noah shook his head. "No way, Poppy. I won't do it. I would rather spend my life without you than have our love morph into some wannabe-God's science homework."

I giggled at his description of Dr. Beaumont. She obviously hadn't made a great impression on Noah either.

"How are you so calm? Aren't you scared?"

Noah looked to his left. A mirror dominated the whole wall. I could just picture Dr. Beaumont sitting behind it, licking her lips, wondering if we were going to agree to be her pet guinea pigs or whether she could just delight in splitting us up instead.

"I'm sure we can find a way round it."

His bottom lip jutted out stubbornly. He was serious. He had a plan.