Funny Story

by Emily Henry

Every time he looks over, it’s like the sun peeking out from behind a cloud, and I do my best to feel content, to be just another person at the edge of his glow.

“Can I do anything?” I ask. Now his smile softens. He touches my chin again. “Nah,” he says. “This is enough.” “I’m not doing anything,” I point out. The corner of his mouth twitches. “Then why do I feel better?”

I think it might break my heart to be someone you don’t like.”

“I do,” I say. “I do want all those parts of you.” His eyes open, molten, warm. “Good,” he says. “They want you too.”

But keeping every glimmer of hope out has isolated me too, and I want to be seen. I want to be loved. I want to live with the hope that things can get better, even if, in the end, they don’t.

Should I be here right now? You should always be here, my heart answers.

The same universe that dispassionately takes things away can bring you things you weren’t imaginative enough to dream up.

But you—you make love so easy, Daphne. You make me think I already deserve it, exactly how I am.

You’re wonderful. You’re the reason for the word wonderful. It really shouldn’t be used for anything else. You make me want to see the best in everyone. You’re the person I want to be with when everything’s going wrong, instead of just wanting to skip over those times entirely. I love that you’re so present that you always forget to keep track of your phone, and I love that when you’re late, you never make excuses but you always have a good reason.

“You’re the most generous person I’ve ever met, even to people who’ve given you no reason to be generous, and you always come through for the

people you care about. I honestly can’t totally figure out why someone as goo...

I love you in a way that feels brand-new. You make every single thing that went wrong feel like it was just a step in the right direction, and it—it makes me excited. For life to keep surprising me.

“You are so, so, so much better than what my cynical little brain could’ve ever come up with.”

Every muscle in my body is busy loving him,

Sometimes things are hard. They just are.