As a teenager, I put a lot of pressure on myself, and a lot of that, for me, was about finding a moral high ground. As I've grown up, I've decided to abandon that because it made me judgmental and also stressed me out.

Learning how to think in the midst of fear is a lesson that everyone needs to learn.

Killing you is not the worst thing they can do to you," I say. "Controlling you is.

I don't want to stop you. I want you to stop yourself.

This is what I wanted most to avoid: for my rises and falls to become Tobias's rises and falls. That's why I can't let him step in to defend me now.

I am still the person who would have died rather than kill you

You know I'm getting a little tired of waiting for you to catch on.