As it turned out, Welcome was where I lost everything, and gained everything. Welcome was the place where my life was guided from one track to another, ending me to places I'd never thought of going.

Only someone who had experienced such bitter despair would be able to recognize it in another.

At first I wasn’t all that tempted by him, but then he killed the spider. Which was a huge point in his favor.” “Absolutely. I love men who kill bugs.” “And then when I was freaking out and couldn’t breathe, he was so…gentle.” Zoe sighed and colored, remembering. “He was holding me, and talking to me in that voice…you know, sort of low and rough around the edges…” “All the Nolans sound like that,” Justine said reflectively. “Like they’ve got a mild case of bronchitis. Totally hot.

I had never felt the allure of another human being this strongly, warmth and curiosity mixing to form an unspoken question in the air.

When you're walking through the darkness, you can't depend on anything or anyone else to light your way. You have to rely on whatever sparks you've got inside you. Or you're going to get lost.

...whether he stayed or left, whether they walked the same path or not. They could live on opposite sides of the world, and she would still be his.

If I never have anything from him except this one moment I am going to take it. Take it now, or drown in regret later.