I suppose the important thing is to make some sort of difference.

Mortified at the speed with which intimacy evaporates.

I applied for the University of Life. Didn't get the grades.

I really was a terrible actor. I did it for years in my twenties because it was like being at university again.

...and once again Dexter is struck by how easy conversation can be when no-one is in their right mind

No, friends were like clothes: fine while they lasted but eventually they wore thin or you grew out of them.

He could feel her laughter against his chest, and at that moment he thought that there was no better feeling than making Emma Morley laugh.