The Love That Split the World

by Emily Henry

“That girl jumped through the hole, not knowing what would happen, and the whole world got born. You understand that, right? The whole world.”

I never wanted it to be like this—half the point of breaking up was avoiding getting to a point where we hate each other, and now it feels like we’re teetering on that line.

Funny thing about belonging to two worlds: Sometimes you feel like you belong in zero.

I like being around people, most of the time, and I certainly wouldn’t call myself shy, but there are certain people you can just be silent with—like

“Just seems like all parents start out thinking their kids are a part of them, another mouth they’ve gotta make sure eats, another body they’ve gotta get dressed. And then one day, our parents look at us and notice we’re whole people. We’re not a part of them anymore, even if they’re a part of us. And for the ones who never really wanted to be parents anyway, that’s probably a relief. But for a mom like yours—I don’t know, she must’ve been sad when she realized your life was gonna be different than hers.

the words themselves make me feel weak, and when I feel weak, I cry, and when I cry, I feel out of control.

And that, Natalie, is your happy ending.” “But he died,” I protested. “It’s a condition of living,” she said. “Besides, judging a story by the ending alone, or a life by its death alone, is as pointless as judging a long hike through the mountains by the fact that when you get back to where you parked your car, there’s a pit toilet full of you-know-what and beer cans.”

No matter how hard it feels, you don’t need to be afraid to move on, and you don’t need to be afraid to stay either. There’s always more to see and feel.”

“You’ve gotta enjoy the moment, sugar cube. You’ll miss your whole life looking forward and backward if you’re not careful.”

I don’t believe in love at first sight but maybe this is as close as it gets: seeing someone, a person you have no business loving, on a football field one night and thinking, I want you to be mine and I want to be yours. Lying on a closet floor with someone and thinking, I shouldn’t know you but I do. Recognizing someone as a part of you before they’ve even become that person in your life, and knowing, without a doubt, that neither of you will ever be who are you in this exact moment ever again and believing, against all odds, you will continue to belong to one another despite that.

It’s true that nothing has the potential to hurt so much as loving someone, but nothing heals like it either.

You feel things deeply. Growing up is going to hurt. Only you can decide if the pain is worth the love.”

To be yourself will cause you to be exiled by many, Grandmother used to say. To comply with others’ wants, though, will cause you to be exiled from yourself. The tension is painful, but there is no choice to make, Natalie.

There’s nothing scarier than hearing someone you love cry, and the smaller the sound, the deeper it can burrow into you.

Your quest for self-awareness has resulted in crippling self-consciousness.

“Sometimes the most beautiful moments in our lives are things that hurt badly at the time. We only see them for what they really were when we stand at the very end and look back.”

“The future’s rarely certain, Natalie. All we ever have is the present.”

the world’s going to keep right on being terrible and beautiful all at once.”

because love is giving the world away, and being loved is having the whole world to give.