Noi (in & out) > Recent Status Updates

“I need you to start caring, Joey.” “I care,” I grumbled. “I care about you, and Shan, and Tadhg, and Ols—” “I need you to start caring about you, Joe.”

“Why do you do that?”
“Why do you hide who you are?” He shook his head, blue eyes laced with pain. “Joey.”
“No, it’s bullshit, Dar,” I pushed, unwilling to let it go. “I’m not ashamed of you, and you shouldn’t be, either.”
“I’m not ashamed of myself,” he replied quietly.
“Well, good,” I snapped. “Because you don’t have shit to be ashamed of.”

“I love you, Joe,” he threw me by saying. “You know that, right?” “You love me?” Feet faltering, I turned to look up at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?” “Nothing,” he replied, tone thick with emotion. “I’m just… I need you to know that.”

“You’re too young to be this cynical.”

Joey in a nutshell

But why am I terrified? bella this is your fault

“... I want to know what it is to love you in every possible way. When you’re happy, when you’re not… when you’ve changed from who you are today and are someone new and the only thing I recognize is that I still love you. I want to be there for it all. In quiet love and passionate love and the kind of love that holds on even when everyone else would let go. I love you without reservation.”

🥺

“… I can tell you, stop tiptoeing around life. Live, Anna. Steal a car, naked. Stay up until sunrise, dancing on the beach. Kiss a man who doesn’t know your name.” She lifts an eyebrow. “Live with passion, love with your heart.”

“I see in him the boy who wasn’t given love, the man who turned from love, and the man who in Paris asked me to find him and tell him that love wasn’t anything to be afraid of. He trusted me to find him and love him and give him a choice in loving me.”

“His shoulders shake, he leans forward with obvious glee, and his mouth twists into the most delighted smile. There are things in life that are infectious—the flu, annoying songs—and apparently, Max’s laugh.”

Not the best comparison…

What did he just say? Tell me this is a spelling mistake

“Oh my word. Max Barone is a dirty talker. Smooth, charming, put-together Max Barone has a filthy mouth.”

🫦

“Of course I’m charming,” Max says. “I’m a Barone. Everyone in my family, even the worst of us, is charming. It’s in our DNA.”
He says this almost as if he sometimes wishes he could be something else.
“Then say something not charming. Go ahead.” I wave my hand, giving him permission. “Dare to be unexpected. Be un-charming.”

“Thank you for getting lost with me.”
Max smiles over at me, setting his spoon down. “Maybe you were lost, but I knew where I was the entire time.”
“Oh.”
His eyes light and he leans close. “I was with you.”

😩

“I always thought Freud was one of the worst things... Before he came along, characters were living and breathing... What they did, what they said— there were so many layers. And then along comes Freud, and people were no longer acting out of their own will or their own choices… People aren’t marionettes… We have free will. We have the ability to reason and choose and react or not react. ”

“But I’ve never been one to stay angry for long, because it never does any good. Anger isn’t logical and it’s rarely useful unless it spurs action. But once you’ve acted, then you have to dismiss it.“

Ok, love this.

“Max is a thinker. He’s always thinking. I already know this about him. It’s why he leaves stacks of books in nearly every room. He reads at least a dozen books at once—classics, nonfiction, economics, history. It’s why he works all hours and then watches crime dramas to puzzle through. It’s why he has a dozen projects spread across his desk, all going at once. His mind never rests. He’s a thinker.”

“Well, there’s a word for optimistic naivety, and that word is tomorrow.
Tomorrow everything will be better.
Tomorrow the sun will come out.
Tomorrow everything will be back to rights.
Tomorrow didn’t come. Tomorrow never comes.”

I feel called out

“He sets his wineglass back on the table without taking a sip. “I called my best friend today.”
I lean back, settling onto the cushioned red velvet...
“Do you know what she said?” Max asks, watching me.
“No.”
“She said, ‘Max who?’”

Ngl that really hurt

“What are you doing?”
“… Building up to it. Letting the emotion rise.”
“No buildup is necessary. Just do it.”
“I pity any women who goes to bed with you.”
“I’ve never had any complaints.”
“Just because no one complains doesn’t mean you’re doing it right. Maybe they felt sorry for you. Or maybe you were too arrogant to notice no buildup left all the ladies unsatisfied.”

💀

"If you want to keep a man, you should always sleep naked.
If that fails, you should steal his car. Naked."

LMAO 🤣

"Stop hoarding information."

That's what I've been saying!
Ngl didn't think Nox would be the one saying this

"You're the reason my heart beats." o-0

"I'm pretty sure we f**** each other up."

Admitting you have a problem is the first step (but why at almost 70%?)

"You're my best everything."

"For Phoebe, if we are doing it I want to do it full-on."

How was this romantic in any way shape or form?

She is giving jealousy in the worst way

"His friends... said that I was cute, but a little too into books."

Excuse me?

How was this so sad and so cute? This whole chapter really

I'm sorry? How does she not realize that her BFF only metting her fiance twice and that they are now planning a wedding after only a few months Is this a giant red flag?