Maybe nothing will ever change for us,” he said. “But don’t you want to be around just in case it does?

Breathing him in wasn't enough, I wanted to inhale him. The leather, the smoke, the sweetness.

But there's a beginning in an end, you know? It's true that you can't reclaim what you had, but you can lock it up behind you. Start fresh.

But there was another, secret Ruby. This one was as thin as a wisp of air, and had struggled for so long just to be. This was the one that Liam carried with him, without knowing. The one that would ride in his back pocket, whisper words of encouragement, tell him he was born to chase the light.

The most important thing you ever did was learn how to survive. Do not let anyone make you feel like you shouldn't have.

No spinning," I said. I wasn't sure my head or heart could take it. Up close, he was so warm, and so beautiful. I was already dizzy enough.

They were never scared of the kids who might die, or the empty spaces they would leave behind. They were afraid of us-the ones who lived.