My body was a machine, plain and simple. I worked it to stay strong; I fed it to keep it running.

It’s what you do that counts, not what you consider doing.

He was the heat of a fire and the sweetness of the moon I'd only just met.

Caring too much could be dangerous; I saw that now. But the alternative was no better.

I imagine the ones we’ve lost as ghosts who prowl about the edges of the light, waiting for us to join them. Sometimes that’s terrifying, and sometimes it’s reassuring, a promise of homecoming.

I swept down the stairs to find Fade waiting for me at the bottom. His dark eyes widened, and for the first time since I'd known him, he was speechless. He stared up at me like I was everything he ever wanted.

But the world moves on, even when you don't want it to, even when change feels like the end of everything. It never stops.