“Hush. Listen now. I need to say a couple of mom things.Listen, because this is important. Eat more- you're getting too skinny. And smile. Oh, and don't believe anyone who says they'll pay you back later; they never do.And one more thing, I have never loved one single thing in my life more than you. You were worth living for, and Ember, you were worth dying for.”

“Ember, you're the only piece of me I have left. Everything else-my family, my home, my soul- they're all gone. I don't know who the hell I am anymore. If it weren't for you... I don't know.”

“Chase Jennings, I love you. I love the boy you were and the man that you've become and even when I don't like you at all I still love you because you are you, kind safe and good, because you understand me and are not afraid.”

“I love you, Em. I've loved you since I was eight years old, and I'll love you my whole life.”

“I jerked instinctively. I couldn't stay here. I couldn't die in this closet. "No one is going to touch you," Chase murmured into my hair.”

“Don't do that again! Not ever again!" I told him."I should say the same to you," he said. I could feel his breath, warm on my neck. "Promise me!" I demanded."I... I promise.""I can't lose you.”

“Losing your family….it puts fear in a different perspective,” he said. “Besides, I got by all right. I stayed on the fringe around Chicago, hoped around tent cities and Red Cross camps. Worked for some people who didn’t ask questions. Avoided case-workers and foster care. And thought about you.”“Me?” I huffed, completely unsettled. In awe at how vanilla my life seemed. In awe of what he’d endured, He turned then, meeting my eyes for the first time. When he spoke, his voice was gentle, and unashamed. “You. The only thing in my life that doesn’t change. When everything went to hell, you were all I had.”