“The best relationships were the ones where both sides went out of their way to make sure the other wasn't disappointed.”

“Once upon a time there were two sisters. One of them was really, really strong, and one of them wasn't.' You looked at me. 'Your turn.'I rolled my eyes. 'The strong sister went outside into the rain and realized the reason she was strong was because she was made out of iron, but it was raining and she rusted. The end.'No, because the sister who wasn't strong went outside into the rain when it was raining, and hugged her really tight until the sun came out again.”

“When someone loves you up one side and down the other like that, you make every effort to stick around.”

“What if love wasn't the act of finding what you were missing but the give-and-take that made you both match?”

“They were different places in that same relationship, and like anything that's out of alignment, they were destined to crash sooner or later.”

“If you had grown up with me, this is one of the things I would have tried to teach you: Marry a man who loves you more than you love him. Because I have both now, and when it is the other way around, there is no spell in the world that can even out the balance.”

“Best place to be?" Adrienne asks after a moment. On the other side of this wall. In my bed, at home. Anywhere with Nathaniel. "Before," I answer, because I know she'll understand.”