It Starts with Us (It Ends with Us, #2)

by Colleen Hoover

He’s also probably wondering why I didn’t know about him, and how I turned out so vastly diffe...

“I wouldn’t blame you for being mad at me. I cost you a lot of money.” “You did do that,” I say. “Those croutons were expensive.”

I’m all he has.

“Maybe we should swing by the emergency room and have them check out your cut. Make sure you don’t have a concussion.” “It’s okay. I can usually tell when it’s a concussion.” He can usually tell?

He was a little curt, but I prefer his curtness to the subtle passes he sometimes still makes at me.

I know it’s not Ryle’s fault, but I like silently blaming stuff on him that he has no control over. It feels good.

“I wish I could just pretend I was dating some guy named Greg. I don’t know that he’d be as threatened by a Greg.

If you weren’t actively cheating on him with the guy, why does Ryle hate him?”

He should have been nicer to you, and then you wouldn’t have to date Greek gods.”

She’s not a ride-or-die friend, nor is she a ride-or-die sister. That’s what I love the most about her, because I’m not ride-or-die, either. If you do something stupid, I’m going to be the friend who tells you you’re doing something stupid. I’m not going to join you in your stupidity.

I want my friends to treat me the same way. I prefer honesty over loyalty any day, because with honesty comes loyalty.

Sometimes people think if they love a broken person enough, they can be what finally repairs them, but the problem with that is the other person just ends up broken, too.

I can’t afford to allow anyone to break me anymore. I have a daughter I need to be whole for.

I’m so happy you’re happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.

But I will say, nothing beats knowing I’m the one you get to be happy with now.

She has no idea the kind of chaos that surrounds her existence, because to her, I’m her entire existence.

Every ounce of her trust is in me. She depends on me for everything, and she’s just sitting there happy and comfortable, as if I have it all under control.

“I’m kind of obsessed with you, Lily Bloom.”

This is the only negative aspect to finally being with the person you’re meant to be with. You go years aching to be with them, and when they finally become a significant part of your life, it somehow hurts even more.

“No, but I told a lawyer.”

The world doesn’t need that side of you. Just because we get the opportunity to be something, that isn’t a guarantee that we’ll be good at it.”

My loyalty is to the people who bring positivity into my life. My loyalty is to the people who want to build me up and see me happy. Those are the people I’m going to make decisions about my life for.

It’s the first time Josh has come close to admitting his father isn’t a hero.

There’s this toxic belief that family should stick together simply because they’re family. But the best thing I ever did for myself was walk away from them.

“I can draw a seedling with two tiny branches. Yours and mine. We’ll be on our own brand-new, tiny family tree—one that starts with us.”

“A whole new family tree that starts with us. I like it.”

She’s giggling as soon as he makes a face at her. Marshall is one of Emmy’s favorite people, but I think we’d be hard-pressed to find a kid who doesn’t love Marshall.

“I want you to undergo anger management.”

He looks at Allysa and then at Marshall. The tension in the room is palpable, but so is the support. I could cry, I’m so grateful for them. I could cry for all the victims who don’t have people like them.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you two,” I say through my tears, hugging Allysa. She runs her hand over my hair and says, “You’d be so miserable, Lily.” We both start to laugh. Somehow.

“Thank you,” I say.

They say there are two sides to every story, and I’ve read a couple of stories of yours that, even though they happened the way you said they did, I had an entirely different experience.

was the moment I realized I was IN love with you. It was just the first moment I realized I loved something, anything, anyone, ever.

People had done things to me in the past that made my heart shrink, but never expand like that.

It’s been six months. Move in with me.

As soon as I finish reading the letter, I set it down and wipe my eyes. If this is how much I cry when he asks me to move in with him, I have no idea how I’ll survive a proposal. Or wedding vows, for that matter.

Do you need me to come home and give you a hug?” He nods. “I do, Lily. Come home.”

We don’t focus too much on what isn’t working out in our lives. We focus on what is, and there’s a lot to be grateful for.

It is my wish for you to be my fish.”

Does it mean that somewhere along the way, a promise was broken? A heart was shattered?

If we trusted everyone to keep their word, vows wouldn’t be necessary. People would fall in love, and they’d stay in love, faithfully, forever, the end. But that’s the issue, I guess. We’re people. We’re human. And humans can sometimes be disappointing.

if humans are so often disappointing and so rarely successful at love, what can we do to ensure ours is a love that will stand the test of time?

If someone would have told me that we’d get married one day, and I’d get to give you your dream honeymoon in Europe, and that our marriage would have a 50 percent chance of being successful, I would have immediately asked what size your ring finger was so that we could get started.

Before you, I had never met love at all.

And then, like a miracle, I was given the opportunity to fall in love with you all over again. Two times in one life. How can one man be so lucky?

I vow that I will cherish every second I’m lucky enough to spend with you from this moment on, just as I’ve cherished every second I’ve ever spent with you before this moment.

Optimistically speaking, we could live our entire lives together, happily, until we’re old and frail and it takes an entire day for me just to reach your lips to kiss you goodnight. If that happens, I vow that I will be immensely grateful for the love that carried us through our life together.

Pessimistically speaking, we could break each other’s hearts again tomorrow—I know we won’t, but even if we did, I vow that I will be immensely grateful for the love that led to that heartbreak until the day that I die. If it’s my destiny to end up a statis...

But you once told me I was a realist, so I want to end my ...

It’s you and me, Lily. In good times and bad, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, in the past and for forever, you are my favorite person. Always have been. Always will be. I love you. Everything that you are.