“You know what the worst thing I can imagine is? Simon had said. Not trusting someone I love.”

“You know,” I said to him. “Pining isn't attractive. On anyone. ... The worst thing you can do if you miss or need someone is let them know it.”

“Can you love someone you don't trust?""Absolutely," he said. "I have a sister I wouldn't lend two copper lengths if I wanted them back. The problem with loving someone you don't trust is finding the right distance.”

“Who was it who said, the worst thing you can imagine is probably what's already happening? Shrink phrase. Not untrue, though.”

“I can trust in my parents' love. And it strikes me that is a big thing to trust, a big thing to have had, no matter what else happens.”

“I’d do almost anything for you,” Simon said quietly. “I’d die for you. You know that. But would I kill someone else, someone innocent? What about a lot of innocent lives? What about the whole world? Is it really love to tell someone that if it came down to picking between them and every other life on the planet, you’d pick them? Is that—I don’t know, is that a moral sort of love at all?”