Five Feet Apart is the story of forbidden love and the human urge to survive, and the novel explores the question of what makes life truly worth living. Taking place over only a few weeks, the book centers on two teenagers with cystic fibrosis, an illness that causes lung infections and impedes one’s ability to breathe. The major conflict of the novel is driven by the fact that patients with cystic fibrosis—such as Stella Grant and Will Newman—cannot be within less than six feet of each other, as the risk of cross-contamination of bacteria is too high and could lead to death.

While Stella has been in and out of her local hospital since the age of six, Will is a new patient, part of a clinical trial to treat the complication he contracted, B. cepacia. Stella follows the rules by the book, determined to stay healthy so that she is eligible for a lung transplant. Will, on the other hand, believes that since he will succumb to his illness soon, there is no point in following rules. This difference leads Stella and Will to clash as soon as they meet. The theme of following the rules versus rebelling against them is explored throughout the novel, as each character comes to see the benefits of the other’s point of view.

Stella and Will also differ on their definition of living. Stella stands committed to her medical regimen, which involves avoiding risks, taking medication, and constantly monitoring her health. However, what motivates Stella is not her own will to live but the obligation she feels toward her parents. Stella’s sister, Abby, died the previous year, and the grief drove her parents to divorce. Feeling that she is all her parents have left, Stella clings to her medical treatments. Meanwhile, since Will believes he will soon die, he would rather use what time he has left to travel and experience new things.

In addition to their personalities and outlooks on life, Stella’s and Will’s relationships with their parents are starkly contrasted throughout the novel. Will’s mother is heavily involved in his treatment, to the point that Will resents her. Stella, on the other hand, sees her parents as fragile and works hard to prevent them from worrying about her. Both relationships show the complex nature of parents and children. Although Stella and Will see their parents as a burden, though each in different ways, they both realize they are lucky to have them at all. Stella’s best friend, Poe, another patient with cystic fibrosis, has been separated from his parents since they were deported. Poe serves as a reminder that while not all parents may be perfect, the ability to be together should still be cherished.

The inciting incident of the novel occurs when Stella sees Will up on the roof of the hospital and Will slips and nearly falls. Stella sees the fear in Will’s eyes and understands that he is not quite as apathetic about his eventual death as he lets on. Will agrees to let Stella help him with his medical regimen, and the two begin spending more time together. Despite knowing the dangers of being physically close to one another, they begin to fall in love. Their relationship shows not only that love cannot be stopped but how powerful human connection is. Originally committed to following rules, Stella begins to break them in order to help Will and begins to question whether there is more to life outside the hospital. Will, meanwhile, begins to feel healthier by actually sticking to his regimen and becomes more hopeful about his condition.

Once Will realizes what a serious threat he poses to Stella’s chance at receiving a lung transplant, he tries to pull apart from her. However, Stella feels tired of all that cystic fibrosis has taken from her. Stella suggests they take one foot back for themselves and stay five feet apart instead of six. While one foot may not seem that significant, this arrangement shows not only how comfortable Stella now feels breaking the rules but also that she is willing to risk her own life and her spot on the transplant list to be just a bit closer to Will.

The rising action of the story takes place on Will’s eighteenth birthday, when Poe dies suddenly. Poe’s death is a breaking point for Stella, as she suddenly feels that since she will eventually meet the same fate, she might as well live her life to the fullest instead of inside a hospital. This recklessness leads to the climax of the story, when Stella convinces Will to escape the hospital to look at holiday lights in a park a few miles away. On the way, Stella trips and falls through ice in a pond into the water. Will rescues Stella from the water and performs mouth-to-mouth CPR, risking his own life to save hers. As Will has demonstrated that he is in fact afraid of dying, contrary to what he might say, this sacrifice shows how deeply he loves Stella.

When they are taken back to the hospital, a set of healthy lungs has arrived for Stella’s transplant. Stella is reluctant to take the lungs even though she has worked so hard to remain eligible for them for so long. She feels she would rather live a life that includes Will for a short time than live longer without him, again displaying the intense love she feels for him. However, she is persuaded to take them, showing that she still has the same instinct to survive that she had at the beginning of the novel.

While Stella is in surgery, Will realizes he cannot pose a danger to her ever again. Though he loves her, Will feels that Stella’s survival is more important than his happiness. After Stella wakes from surgery, Will delivers two final presents. One is a sketchbook of drawings immortalizing their time together. The other is the lights from the park strung up in the courtyard outside Stella’s room, letting Stella know that the life that was once beyond her grasp is now within reach.

Stella and Will run into each other in an airport eight months later, both on their way to separate travel destinations. They remain changed by their time together. Though Will is still sick, he is sticking to his medical regimen as prescribed by Stella, and Stella is finally off to have experiences outside the hospital. They have learned that there is a balance between surviving and living life to the fullest, and they plan to do both for as long as they can.