More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Steffi has been the one exception to the endless proof that the world is unstable and unreliable.
We are not goddamn statistics. We will never be. We are the exception, and we are exceptional. Got it?”
“Hold on to your one. Remember? I have you, and you have me. And when you’re lucky enough to find one—just one—person in this unforgiving life who makes everything worth it, who you love and trust and would kill for, then you hold on damn tight, because that’s probably all you get.
“It’s going to hurt until it doesn’t anymore.” “Okay.” “Say it.” “It’s going to hurt until it doesn’t anymore.”
As much as I avoid people, certain types of crowds are ironically my friend.
YOU CAN’T REACH WHAT’S IN FRONT OF YOU UNTIL YOU LET GO OF WHAT’S BEHIND YOU.
Whether I like it or not, he is taking in pieces of me, just as I am taking in pieces of him, too.
You want inside my head? Fine. You have no idea how messed up I am. Go ahead. Drown like I do.
Because that’s what people do: they leave. When things are good, when things are bad, people leave. But this time, I leave first.
Sometimes, the unexpected happens. Sometimes, someone makes you break your own rules.
I am brave. I am brave. I am brave.
No one has ever given me a stuffed animal, and I am struck by what a devastating realization that is. How unforgivable and insurmountable it feels.
I think there’s something between us, and I’m very afraid that I’m going to do the wrong thing again and send you running. And I don’t want that. If you’re going to go running anywhere, I’d prefer that you come running to me.
Discovering everyone has a hidden story, a reason for their behavior.”
“But you know what feels better than anything physical?” Esben looks at me for a long time. “How it feels to be falling for someone the way that I’m falling for you.”
But secrets will pull you under and drown you. You taught me that. We are beyond secrets. Way past them. You do not have to be infallible, Esben. You’re allowed to be human and to have hurt and worry and . . . pain. And sharing those with me? It makes you stronger, in my eyes. That’s how you’ve made me feel.”
“Be brave. Be brave. Be brave. You can do this.”
