“Humans were so preoccupied with love. They were all desperate to form an attachment to one person they could refer to as their other half. It seemed from my reading of literature that being in love meant becoming the beloveds entire world. The rest of the universe paled into insignificance compared to the lovers. When they were separated, each fell into a melancholy state, and only when they were reunited did their hearts start beating again. Only when they were together could really see the colors of the world. When they were apart, that color leached away, leaving everything a hazy gray. I lay in bed, wondering about the intensity of this emotion that was so irrational and so irrefutably human. What if a persons face was so sacred to you it was permanently inscribed in your memory? What if their smell and touch were dearer to you than life itself?”

“You want to marry me? I was thinking we’d start slow and see where things went, but hey, what the hell!""I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m crazy about you."“So you hadn’t noticed? That’s not a good thing—I’m going to have to be moredemonstrative in future.”“Beth . . . for so many guys sex is the only thing that keeps their relationships from falling apart, but we’re not like that. We have so much more. I’ve never discussed it with you because I’ve never felt that we needed to. I’m sure it would be amazing, but I love you for you, not for what you can offer me.”“Beth, I love you and nothing makes me happier than being close to you. You’re intoxicating.”“Because when I look at you, I see my whole world. I’m not about to walk away; I wouldn’t have anything left.”"The world could fall apart around me, and it wouldn’t matter if I had you.”“A man in love can do extraordinary things. I don’t care if you’re an angel, you’re my angel, and I won’t let you go.”

“I thought you were gone forever, I thought you’d walked away from everything, because I failed, because I destroyed the only thing that ever mattered to me. I waited for you to come, but you didn’t.”

“How could you tell children they were playing with fire if they´d never had the experience of being burned?”

“What was the point of loving when the people you loved were taken from you? When Death and Time were always looming and poised to strike, why did love exist?”

“i swore i could feel my lies slithering inside me like snakes, wrapping themselves around me and constricting. i felt they were squeezing the air from my lungs, tightening around my heart.”

“When's your birthday?"I was taken aback by the question. "I don't like presents,"I said quickly, in case he got any ideas. "Who said anything about presents? I'm just asking for your date of birth.""Thirtieth of February," I said, throwing out the first date that came to mind.Xavier raised an eyebrow."Are you sure about that?"I panicked. What had I said wrong? I ran through the months in my head and realised my mistake. OOPS--there were only twenty-eight days in February! "I mean thirtieth of April," I corrected and grinned sheepishly.Xavier laughed. "You're the first person I've ever known to forget her own birthday.”