I spent so much time telling myself that this wasn't home that I started to believe it," she said carefully. "Belonging has always been tough for me." I can be your home," he said quietly. "Belong to me.

There was a mood of magic and frenzy to the room. Crystalline swirls of sugar and flour still lingered in the air like kite tails. And then there was the smell-the smell of hope, the kind of smell that brought people home.

Sometimes people who had been together for a long time got to imagining that things used to be better, even when they weren't.

Wasn't that the point to being married? That you had a partner, someone you trusted, to help with important decisions.

Like magic, she felt him getting nearer, felt it like a pull in the pit of her stomach. It felt like hunger but deeper, heavier. Like the best kind of expectation. Ice cream expectation. Chocolate expectation.

Because he knew the best way to get what he wanted was to break down what made us strongest. And our friendships were what made us strong.

Don't let anyone see your vulnerable spots. Once they knew how to hurt you, they would do it again and again.