“...if I was going to play this game and love it, it had to love me back.”

“Oh gods... oh gods... I had hurt him... so many times, I had hurt him. By trying to hurt myself, I had hurt him. By trying to push him away, I had hurt him. Every time I opened my mouth and belittled myself with my "turns of rough poetry", I had sliced his heart as fine as my wrists. I did not know why he loved me as he did. I might never know. But as I stood there and held him, my back nagging at me and my leg screaming in protest, I realized that the least I could do was welcome his love with an open heart. And part of doing that was loving myself enough to want to live.”

“They made love until Chris had to leave for the airport, without sleeping at all. After Chris had left, wearing wrinkled jeans and Xander’s sweat and seed on his skin, Xander flopped back onto the bed and looked miserably at the clock.”

“I will love you forever,” I murmured, and he stroked the hair off of my forehead.I will hold you to that.” His face was grim and his voice was sober—hetouched my handprint of chaos as he said it, and I knew in my bones that it was a solemn vow, and not a sweet or a kind offering of love at all. Green would make me live if he had to crack the foundations of the world.”

“Listen to me. I will spill my insides for you once only. We were three—I am the green, thegrowing, the day. I loved the moon, the silver night, and he loved the sunshine, fierce and hot, and sheloved me because the sun must love the day. And the sun and I stood in a valley of stone and faceddeath, because we wanted to spare the night, who had suffered a thousand deaths already, and we didn'twant him to bleed any more. But he would not allow it. He swooped from the sky and clenched deathin both hands, and we wore his blood like skin.”

“You love him, man,” was what Jensen did say. “You love him so much, you’re making plans to go to hell for him.”

“So,” Asa said conversationally, “want to go home and play butterflies?” Sebastian grimaced. “Do you promise not to pull my wings off?” Asa looked at him sideways. “Do you promise to fly back?”