Would you stop thinking about what everyone wants. Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want?

You feel fine, and then, when your body can't keep fighting, you don't.

He leaned closer, their faces drawing near, and he could feel the heat of her breath mingling with his. He closed his eyes against the memory of a thousand other kisses and touched his lips to hers. He felt a kind of spark, and all at once he felt her slowly coming back to him. She was the arm that held him close in times of trouble, she was the whisper on the pillow beside him at night.

I want to be with you as much as possible, Ronnie. You're smart and funny and you're honest. I trust you. I trust us. Yeah, I'm leaving and you're going back home. But neither of those things changes the way I feel about you. And my feelings aren't going to change simply because I'm going to Vanderbilt. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone.

you have to love something before you can hate it.

What mattered most was knowing that love was mine to give, without strings or expectations.

He was from a different class, too poor, and they would never approve if their daughter became serious with someone like him.