“Sometimes, when something hurts us, our hearts break a little-in a slightly ... more literal way than for humans. Our pain sort of spills out and onto anyone around us. We call it a cracked heart.”

“Sometimes... Sometimes our hearts...crack a little.”

“Sometimes...." He paused and squeezed his eyes shut. " Sometimes our hearts.... crack a little." -Jack”

“You were broken before I ever took you to the Everneath.Remember how you were when you showed up on my doorstep? That had nothing to do with me.You came broken and that was the fault of this world.Not mine."I nodded again,a little less aggressively. "Why do you care if I get hurt?"All he said was, "I hate to see it.Whether you go with me or not,I don't like you getting hurt." But his face seemed to say more.As if there were something he wasn't telling me.Before I could ask him about it,his iPhone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out,read the screen, and then walked over to the window. "We'll finish this later.""Tell me why you care," I said.He put his hands on the windowsill. "Because it's you. Despite what you think of me,your pain will always be my pain.""There has to be more to it than that. What aren't you telling me,Cole?"He grinned. "How are you so good at reading me when you can't read anyone else around you?" He sighed, and as he climbed out the window,he said, "I love it.”

“How are you so good at reading me when you can't read anyone else around you?" He sighed, and as he climbed out the window, he said, "I love it.”

“Tell me, friend. Is there more for us?"I looked into his eyes, "There is everything for us.”

“Jack?""Mmmm?"The band was playing a softer song, mellow and slow."Why did you ask me out when you did?" I tried to sound casual."What do you mean?""I mean,did something specific happen to make you ask me out?""Yes," he said."What was it?" Had I thrown myself at Jack Caputo? Had I done something to get in Lacey's way?"You remember the first game of the season?""Yeah," I said. It was Jack's first game as starting quarterback, the youngest starter in school history. I remembered sitting in the second row, directly behind the team bench."After I threw for the first touchdown of the game?""Yes." I still couldn't figure out where he was going with this.Had I flashed him or something,and blocked it out of my memory? I was pretty sure I wasn't holding up any large signs declaring my love or anything."Our defense took the field, and I was on the bench.When I turned around to look at the fans..." He paused.Oh,no. "What did I do?"He smiled. "You looked at me.Not the game." He sighed,as if reliving the memory.I felt my face scrunch up in confusion. "That's it?""That's it." He shrugged. "It was the first time I thought there might be a chance. I asked Jules about it."I bit my lip. "Apparently she doesn't understand that trusty sidekicks aren't supposed to spill secrets."In a flash,I was suspended in air, the back of my head inches from the ground, Jack's face a breath away from mine, his lips in a wicked grin.I gasped,more from surprise at the sudden dip than from fear."There are no secrets between us,Becks." His smile remained,but his eyes were intense.”