“Guilt is intense. Suffocating. A brick, tied quietly around your ankles while you sleep. You never fall slowly into guilt-you wake up with little time to take your last breath before being pulled under.”

“But, the thing about guilt is, no one can take away for you; you have to unpack it yourself.”

“Change never comes slowly, brewing on the horizon. It's always in a second. Balanced on the rip of a razor blade, in empty pill bottles, behind two pink lines, or learning that one of your children is slowly slipping into a world of silence.”

“He keeps doing that.” “What?” She laughs. “Kissing your forehead.” “Yeah . . . he does.” I can’t stop my grin. “Does it bother you? I can hear your smile, you know.” “Not really. It doesn’t, like, mean anything. It’s just . . . it’s Ryker.”

“November, if your heart was mine it would never break.”

“Do you love me?”… “I never stopped, Nat. Not for a day.”

“You made him feel special, Ryker…” Ryker smiles as he leans back on the arm of his couch, still holding my hand. “He is special, Natalie…he’s yours.”