“Food of LoveEating is touch carried to the bitter end. -Samuel Butler III'm going to murder you with love;I'm going to suffocate you with embraces;I'm going to hug you, bone by bone,Till you're dead all over.Then I will dine on your delectable marrow.You will become my personal Sahara;I'll sun myself in you, then with one swallowDrain you remaining brackish well.With my female blade I'll carve my nameIn your most aspiring palmBefore I chop it down.Then I'll inhale your last oasis whole.But in the total desert you becomeYou'll see me stretch, horizon to horizon,Opulent mirage!Wisteria balconies dripping cyclamen.Vistas ablaze with crystal, laced in gold.So you will summon each dry grain of sandAnd move towards me in undulating dunesTill you arrive at sudden ultramarine:A Mediterranean to stroke your dusty shores;Obstinate verdue, creeping inland, fast renudesYour barrens; succulents spring up everywhere,Surprising life! And I will be that green.When you are fed and watered, flourishingWith shoots entwining trellis, dome and spire,Till you are resurrected field in bloom,I will devour you, my natural food,My host, my final supper on the earth,And you'll begin to die again. ”

“I love you," she says. "But that doesn't mean I'm ready to give up my life for you. I don't want to pull over and park right now. I want to see places, Gray. I want to live my life. You're asking me to give up who I am. If I move with you, I'll just be living your life. Your dream. I'll regret the things you're going to hold me back from doing, and then I'll probably blame you. And that's not fair to either of us.”

“I love you John Tyree, and I'm going to hold you to the promise you once made me. If you come back, I'll marry you. If you break your promise, you'll break my heart.”

“His lips slid over her ear. "My mind shares yours. If you're determined to go through with this, then know whatever this takes you, you won't be alone, Tansy. I'm strong. I'll find your mind and I'll bring you back.""Last time I broke into a million pieces.""I'll find each one.”

“Some people wouldn't see a traitor when they looked at me. Some people would see a survivor. Call me anything you like—I sleep fine at night. But you will look at me when you say it. Or I'll get so far in your face you'll be seeing me with your eyes closed. You'll be seeing me in your nightmares. I'll scorch myself on the backs of your eyelids. Get off my back and stay off it. I'm not the woman I used to be. If you want a war with me, you'll get one. Just try me. Give me an excuse to go play in that dark place inside my head.”

“I want to see you tomorrow, but I don't know what this thing with my parents is going to be like. When you go to lunch, sit so you can see into the Men's section. If my back is turned, I can't meet you. If I'm facing you, I can meet you and the number of plates on my tray is the time I'll be here. What if you can't come till midnight?Then I'm going to look like a fucking idiot.”