“Is this what love feels like?" he whispered to her. "I don't like it, my Beth. It hurts too much.”

“Jennifer to Beth: Ech. I don't like Tom Cruise. Beth to Jennifer: Me neither. But I usually like Tom Cruise movies. Jennifer to Beth: Me too... Huh, maybe I do like Tom Cruise. But I hate feeling pressured to find him attractive. I don't.Beth to Jennifer: Nobody does. It's a lie perpetuated by the American media. Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts.Jennifer to Beth: Men don't like Julia Roberts?Beth to Jennifer: Nope. Her teeth scare them.Jennifer to Beth: Good to know.”

“Explain to me what loving feels like, Beth. I want to understand.”

“God Em, I love you so much it hurts,” came his pained whisper in her ear.“I know. I love you so much, too.”

“My Beth,” he whispered, his breath hot on her swollen lips. “Thank you.” “For what?” Beth couldn’t stop crying, but she smiled, her face aching with it. “Setting me free.”

“Camille?" Her voice quiet and girlish and unsure. "You know how people sometimes say they have to hurt because if they don't, they're so numb they won't feel anything?""Mmm.""What if it's the opposite?" Amma whispered. "What if you hurt because it feels so good? Like you have a tingling, like someone left a switch on in your body. And nothing can turn that switch off except hurting? What does that mean?"I pretended to be asleep. I pretended not to feel her fingers tracing vanish over and over on the back of my neck.”