“Their screams would echo through the house and reverberate against my eardrums until my mind would fracture. Years went by and with each fracture; I lost a piece of my soul until I became lost and empty inside.”

“You love me?” I whispered. He turned slowly to me and the muscle in his jaw kept ticking until his eyes locked on mine. “You lost that guy, respect, you found the strength to carry on. Know this, Tabby, I lost you, it would be sixty years of goin’ through the motions. I know that in my dick. I know it in my gut. I know it in my heart. I know it deep down in my goddamned soul.”

“You lost that guy, respect, you found the strength to carry on. Know this, Tabby, I lost you, it would be sixty years of goin' through the motions. I know it in my dick. I know it in my gut. I know it in my heart. I know it deep down in my goddamned soul.”

“I would hold on, and hold on, until my hands clutch at emptiness.”

“It is like a piece of my soul had been lost, empty, and it is now filled with the light of a million stars.”

“Thena . . . I fell in love with you as you are. Fractured, maybe. Lost, perhaps. But I'm no prize either.”