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Perhaps one of the few perks of not having parents was not feeling pressure to be someone he wasn’t. He didn’t fear what his mother or father would think because they were already gone.
“Friends accept you for who you are,” Steph said. “Lovers always want more from you—like your time and affection—or more for you, like they want you to be happier, healthier… just more.”
“I’m telling you, you’ve got a great face. Cut your hair and you could have anyone you want.”
he could picture what it must be like to be Steph—to have once been loved by Caesar and to now only have a shadow of that devotion.
“I suspected before then, but hope and reality can get tangled up, if you know what I mean.”
Like anything in life, you get used to your situation. I’ve been on my own long enough that it’s not as upsetting anymore. But there will always be days when I want that safe feeling again, when I wish my mom was there to pick me up when I fall and scrape my knee. Sometimes I still wish I could go home.”
No wheelchair can support damaged self-esteem until it learns to stand upright. No cane can help emotions limp along until they can walk. A cast or brace can’t protect a vulnerable spirit, and not even the strongest painkiller can stop the ache caused by a failed relationship. No, the only way a broken heart mends itself is with stitches of time and the sticky tape of hastily rearranged dreams.
Do you think people can change enough that they finally fit together?”
Strange how the present could become the past so quickly. At least this cleared the way for something new.
It’s hard to find a guy who likes guys that you like who also likes you back.
Not only does it seem nearly impossible to find another gay guy, not to mention the right one for you, but on top of it all, so much internal fear and external hate keeps trying to get in the way of love.”
sitting there and witnessing firsthand how much they loved each other made him want to cry.
there are people in this world who, after you meet them, you walk away a better person. No matter how okay you were before, they have a way of making you even better.
“I don’t want some guy I have to impress or one who feels like he needs to show off. I just want someone who loves me that I can love back. Simple as that. That’s all it takes. I don’t really care about honesty or being totally understood or any of the other stuff, because being human is all about messing up and breaking trust and telling lies. I wouldn’t want to be with someone perfect. Just some humble, totally normal guy will do.”
I’m enjoying the present too much to dwell on the past.”
“Haven’t you been around other couples, ones you envy because what they share seems so incredibly wonderful that you want it for yourself? And, even though they might not intend to, don’t those happy couples sometimes make you feel small and insignificant, like you aren’t good enough to join their ranks? I know. I’ve been there before, and I didn’t want Jason to feel the same way. He deserves to be loved.
Keep showing up in the lives of the people you love, and I have no doubt that they’ll want you to stay.”
“When you get to be my age, you’re either haunted by the things you should have done or nostalgic about the things you did do. Given enough time, right and wrong cease to have meaning.”
“Understanding someone is part of loving them,” Marcello said with a devil’s smile. “Even if they don’t want to be understood.”
“The only thing love needs to apologize for is being too difficult to understand and too easy to give in to.”
“Don’t let it stay hidden. Love is like a flower. It needs to be out in the open where it can get fresh air and sunlight. Secrets can be fun, but eventually they’ll smother what you have together.”
It’s better to hurt someone with honesty than to hurt them with lies.”
“Sometimes you have to be on your own to become who you were meant to be.
