That’s a funny thing: you think, when awful things happen, everything else just stops, like you would forget to pee and eat and get thirsty, but it’s not really true. It’s like you and your body are two separate things, like your body is betraying you, chugging on, idiotic and animal, craving water and sandwiches and bathroom breaks while your world falls apart.

That’s what made it so frightening to the lawmakers: Love obeys no laws other than its own.

In a world without love, this is what people are to each other: values, benefits, and liabilities, numbers and data. We weigh, we quantify, we measure, and the soul is ground to dust.

The past is nothing but a weight. It will build inside of you like a stone.

The Story of Solomon is the only way I know how to explain. And then, in smaller letters: Forgive me.

The flip side of freedom is this: When you're completely free, you're also completely on your own.

Over the past week, I’ve accepted that I will never love Julian as much as I loved Alex. But now that idea is overwhelming, like a wall between us. I will never love Julian like I love Alex.