Fisher Amelie

“I'm so sorry. He took our home, Callum." I forced her back into my chest. "No! He didn't take my home, Harper! Because my home is right here, in my arms.”

“Shit happens! You know that just as well as I do but it’s be because it happens to us so often that he have to fight just a little bit harder,One day, you and I are gonna’ wake up and be alright. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day. One day. I promise you.”

“It’s like I’ve known you my entire life,”“I think, in some ways, we have. Only you could know what I’ve been through; the humiliation, the judgments, the unwanted pity and none of it at your doing. We may not have known each other our whole lives but we’ve definitely lived them in parallel.”

“They are funny little representatives of simplicity, of awareness. No one is more aware of themselves as these children are. They have nothing, have no one but us, have seemingly no reason to be hopeful...yet they are. They choose to be happy even though the obviously easier choice would be to be frightened or sad and they have real reason to be those things as well. But they have life and faith and hope and love and they choose those things. Their innocence is addicting, their hope is catching and I'm happy to be surrounded by them.”

“Heart attacks are one of those things best left unprovoked.”

“He was breathtaking. Breathtakingly sexy. Breathtakingly beautiful. Breathtakingly real. Just breathtaking.”

“Let me guess. Because you are not proud of yourself? Because you despise who you are? Because, if you show these emotions, they acknowledge those thoughts?”

“We held each other the entire night, no words spoken but the still, silent night uttered so much.”

“My heart was in a perpetual state of sadness and the only relief I could find were in those cathartic cries. I lived a fragile existence.”

“Understanding. I was in love with Ian Aberdeen. So deeply, so incredibly. And it was true and it was sublime and it was mine.Nothing could take that away from me and that was absolutely freeing to me. I owned that love. I chose it. I owed no one for it because it couldn’t have been purchased. It belonged to me free and clear. I had never felt more empowered.”

“Your heart is startlingly beautiful, Sophie.”

“That girl was the real me. Frightened. Worthless. A terrible friend. Terrible daughter. Well educated but so limited in ideas worth having. Beautiful yet repulsive…And finally honest.”

“How do we break the cycle?”

“My goal in life was to rule my tiny, elite world, so I did.”

“I gave myself no boundaries. If I wanted to sleep with a boy, I did. If I wanted to try a drug, I did. If I wanted to drink to the point of excess.”

“Every want I fulfilled and every desire was quenched. I wanted for nothing. Except attention.”

“I ruled because I was the hottest. You see, I’m one of the beautiful people.”

“I just stared after him, wondering what in the hell crawled up his butt. Then I ogled his rude butt and thought, “nice ass” but shook myself and remembered that he needed a swift kick there not an appreciative stare..”

“I’d fallen so hard in love with her, I was surprised I hadn’t been knocked out.”

“What is this, Tom”“It’s the beginning, January.”“Of what?” She asked me seriously.“Well have all the time in the world to talk about that. It’s too deep to get into it right now but know this, I’m tired of pretending. So weary of it. I forgot myself when I lost who I thought Kelly was to me, but you’ve shown me what I think, no, I know no one else could have shown me.”“And what’s that?”“That I don’t want to be lost anymore. I – I want you.”

“I’m a coward, January. I’m not sure if I can handle another heartbreak and I know if I fell for you, I’d fall so hard there’d be no coming back from it. You’re extraordinary.”

“What is it about you?” he asked me.I gulped. “What do you mean?” I whispered, closing my eyes and swallowing again, my breaths becoming labored.He lifted his hand and dragged the backs of his fingers across my jaw so lightly I barely felt them, but they made me feel dizzy all the same. “How can you be this extraordinary, January MacLouchlainn?” He leaned closer, a look of pure frustration and anger lit his eyes and pressed his lips. “And why couldn’t I have met you before I realised I didn’t want anyone… ever?”

“Fate has a way of stepping in and guiding you the direction you need to go even when you yourself had no intention of creating that path.”

“Stay with me”…“I don’t have a choice,” I told him.“You do. Choose me, Soph.”

“He was actually interested in things I had to say, something I'd never experienced before and made me feel extraordinarily special.”

“It's funny how this total stranger could relate to me better than anyone else I'd ever met. It was as if I'd known her my entire life.”

“One day you will blink and the haze will dissipate. You'�ll discover that what once defined you has wiltedinto graying hair and wrinkled skin. Frantic, you�ll glance around yourself, in hopes of finding those youswore adored you, but all you will find is empty picture frames.”

“Tie Dye Tom, my closes friend next to Cherry, say next to her crying like a little baby. 'I feel like a mama bird,' he said through choking sobs that made me laugh out loud.”

“It was such a strange sensation knowing that someone loved you enough to die for you but not enough to fall in love with you.”

“I'd say she is nothing short of a miracle, son.""I already knew that," I said, a small smile touching my lips.”

“My heart tumbled in pieces at her feet as she chipped away at it with her wondrous ways, and it didn't form a whole again until half a year had passed and the end product was a living, beating organ in the palm of her hands.”

“And then you met me," I said."And then I met you," she said, smiling softly."And all was right with the world," I joked."Exactly," she said seriously.”

“Anything can hurt you, Harper. Even things you're supposed to be able to count on can hurt you.""These things you speak of, do they include how we're supposed to rely on mothers and fathers never to die or leave us alone?""Exactly, but that's life, Harper. Nothing is guaranteed.""You're right.""But I can promise you that I would never intentionally hurt you and, although a promise is not a guarantee, it is still a promise and you can ask anyone I know, I'm good on my word.""I don't know why but I believe you.”

“Sincerity is one of those rare human qualities that feels a bit like discovering a lost treasure. It is a rare commodity but once found, it absolutely priceless. That was Callum, pretty much in a nutshell.”

“It was like my body knew instantly that he was mine and that I was his.”

“An Irishman walks into a pub,” she begins and the bar went silent. “The bartender asks him, ‘What'll you have?’” Her Irish accent was spot on. “The man says, ‘Give me three pints of Guinness, please.’ The bartender brings him three pints and the man proceeds to alternately sip one, then the other, then the third until they're gone. He then orders three more.“The bartender says, ‘Sir, no need to order as many at a time. I’ll keep an eye on it and when you get low, I'll bring you a fresh one.’ The man replies, ‘You don't understand. I have two brothers, one in Australia and one in the States. We made a vow to each other that every Saturday night we'd still drink together. So right now, me brothers have three Guinness stouts too, and we're drinking together.’“The bartender thought this a wonderful tradition and every week the man came in and ordered three beers.” January’s playing and voice became more solemn, dramatic. “But one week, he ordered only two.” The crowd oohed and ahhed. “He slowly drank them,” she continued darkly, “and then ordered two more. The bartender looked at him sadly. ‘Sir, I know your tradition, and, agh, I'd just like to say that I'm sorry for your loss.’“The man looked on him strangely before it finally dawned on him. ‘Oh, me brothers are fine - I just quit drinking.”

“Discover why you’re important, then refuse to settle for anyone who doesn’t completely agree.”

“January was like the freaking sun.”

“I owned that love. I chose it. I owed no one for it because it couldn't have been purchased. It belonged to me free and clear. I had never felt more empowered.”

“There was something practically tangible there, like a ray of sun, warming us through to our souls. You could see it, you could feel it, but you couldn't quite capture it in your hands. That didn't mean it wasn't there though. Oh, it was there and it weighted a thousand delicious pounds. I let that pressure inundate me, let it tether me to him.”

“But they have life and faith and hope and love and they choose those things. Their innocence is addicting, their hope is catching and I'm happy to be surrounded by them”

“Men wanted me. They all did, however briefly, but none of them wanted to keep me. That's what I needed. I needed to be owned, loved. BUT NOT BY A MAN. I knew then that I never needed to be kept by a man. What I needed was to love myself, to want to keep myself around. And in that revelation, I knew that if I wanted to keep myself, that a man wanting to keep me would just be a by-product.”

“It’s the favorite part of my day.”My eyes opened lazily. “What do you mean?” I whispered.“When you undo them and run your hands throughout the waves. That’s my favorite part of the day.”

“Fear, Sadness. They're not weaknesses. They are overpowering, defining emotions. They make you human, Sophie.”

“I opened my mouth to argue with him but he stopped me by pressing his lips to mine and I forgot my own name let alone whatever argument I had.”

“I hate seeing you hurt. I'm sorry for hurting you last night. The look on your face speared my icy heart. I wish I could take it all back.”

“Note to self, Ian is happiest when in dangerous situations.”

“I wasn’t different from most girls I knew. Well, except the fact I was exponentially better looking, but why beat a dead horse?”

“I was not staring at you,” he told his plate. I leaned over. “Did you hear that, Dingane’s lunch? He was not staring at you.”He looked up at me crossly. “I was not staring at you.”“I never said you were.” “I was merely explaining that Henry was exaggerating. I did not stare at you.”“Okay,” I stated, implying in my tone that he had done just that.“I didn’t. I-I wasn’t.” “I believe you,” I told him“I may have looked at you a few times to make sure you were doing your job.”“Oh, I see then.”“But I certainly wasn’t staring.”“We’ve established that you were not staring.”He breathed deeply a few times, his eyes burning into mine. “Good.”He’d definitely been staring.”

“If we don’t make out of this alive, Sophie Price, I want you to know that I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. You’re it for me.”