“He sighed, his hands tangling themselves in my already-knotted hair. “Violet, don’t ever leave me. Whatever happens; however things get, just don’t go. Please.”

“He clung to her more tightly, knotting his hands in her hair, trying to tell her, with the press of his mouth on hers, all the things he could never say out loud: I love you; I love you and I don’t care that you’re my sister; don’t be with him, don’t want him, don’t go with him. Be with me. Want me. Stay with me.I don’t know how to be without you.”

“He exhaled loudly and raked a hand through the sable brown hair he always kept stylishly messy. "Look, Rose. You don’t have to keep up with the hard-to-get thing. You’ve already got me.”

“Don’t leave us again, Lana,” he whispered roughly. “Don’t leave me. Stay. Please.”

“Nick, I have to-” “NO YOU DON’T! I am risking everything for you and you are going to let him kill you, Keely! Please. Please don’t do this. I can protect you. We can go. We can get in the car and just drive away. We can hide.” He takes her hands in his, grips them firmly. “We can go anywhere you want. Just please stay with me.”

“Please don’t do this—don’t do this to me. If anything happened to you—”He looked at her with surprise. There was already a red stain on the white bandages that wrapped his chest, where his movements had pulled his wound open. “I…”“What?”“I’m not used to you loving me,” he said.”