“Villanelle for my valentineOld love, I thought I'd never see the timebecause of all we've done and often saidwhen I'd be yours, my dear, and you'd be mine.And what relief to soften, and resignthe battle of the heart over the head.old love, I thought I'd never see the timewhen qualms and cold feet that could undermineall we've held out for, dissipate insteadnow that I'm yours, my dear and you are mine.I'm still amazed how our two lives alignthe two of us! A pair! Take it as read,old love, I thought I'd never see the timeThe tangle of our jumpers in the line,the battle for the blankets in our bedconfirm that I am yours, and you are mine.So then, this is my pledge, my valentine:my hand's in yours for all that lies ahead.Oh love, there's never been a better timenow that I'm yours, and finally, you're mine.”

“See?" I crowed. "I know what I'm doing. Two weeks, tops, and you'll be begging to dip your fries in my shake.""You think?" It took me about a second before I realized I'd done it again. My mouth seriously needed a chaperone.”

“I try and picture you reading this -- there is a sense that as I write I try and get nearer to you, connect in my mind with you.”

“Is it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all...But is it? Is it really better to know a thing you love only to lose it?If I'd known then what I know now...But that's the thing, isn't it? When you're living a thing...you don't know. You take it for granted, like a dog being petted, assuming it will somehow go on forever.If I'd known what I know now...I'd have touched everything in sight, everything I could get my hands on. I'd have grabbed the nearest girl I could find and not even caring how crazy she thought me, touched my hands to her face just to know what that feels like.Is it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?I, never having loved before, have no real answer to that question.”

“He was soppy! He went along with everything! I'd say what about this or what about that, and he'd always say yes. It didn't matter what I said. It was always the same answer. He gave into everything. You can't have that in a man. I like people to stand up for themselves. They've got to have their own opinion, know their own mind. I could tell it was going nowhere. I couldn't be with him. We weren't right for each other. When I broke it off, he was baffled and broken. He cried and asked how he'd wronged me. But he hadn't done anything wrong; he just wasn't the right one”

“Scott-there's nothing in the world I want but you-and your precious love. All the material things are nothing. I'd just hate to live in a sordid, colorless existence-because you'd soon love less-and less-and I'd do anything-anything-to keep your heart for my own-I don't want to live-I want to love first and live incidentally.”

“My beautiful boy, my lover, my friend. The man I thought I'd never see again. Sebastian.”