“For one… If you shoot me and your boss realizes it was without good reason, you’ll have fucked up your trial period. And trust me; I know you’re still in it.” Ian pulled open a drawer in a small brown cabinet.“Secondly, it could end very badly for me and I’d rather prevent that. Getting shot is not on my list of things to do today.” He wrapped his hand around the steel grip of his own weapon and removed it from the drawer.“And last but not least, if you plan to shoot me… Well, it’ll be a matter of which of us is quicker and has better aim.” A pleasant smile crossed his features and he casually waved the gun from side to side. “Do you want to risk it?”

“I didn’t ask for your help,” I muttered, too exhausted to properly argue. “So fuck you.”An alarm bell went off in my head and I bit back a sigh. I swore I sensed the mischievous grin that inevitably crossed his lips.“I already did you.”It was going to be a long drive.”

“Grace is from God for me, not from me to everyone else around me. I'am not supposed to be the source of grace; I am supposed to be the receipient of it. In this way, it is not something I do but rather something I believe and receive. If I can't appropriate the love and mercy of God for myself in a deeply personal and individual way, what use am I to anyone else? We can't minister from a place of guilt, from a feeling that if the world knew our secrets, they would stone us. We have to know that even though the whole world rightly wants to judge us, and we truly have no defense, Jesus still stands on our side and still defends us. He is rich in mercy and lavishes us with grace.”

“I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.I aim with my eye.I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.I shoot with my mind.I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.I kill with my heart.”

“He crossed his arms again and requested, “You wanna stop aiming your weapon at me?”Actually, no. I didn’t. I wanted to keep aiming my gun at him and I might also want to pull the trigger.”

“She clasped his hands and pressed her lips to them. 'I want you to be proud of me,' he repeated. She dropped his hands, feeling defeated.”

“What do I need to do to get you to trust me?   What do you want from me?”   He yells. I steel myself and look up into his panicked eyes and fight the pull I feel at coming in contact with those sapphires again.   “Nothing! I don’t want anything from you!”   I shout out the biggest lie I have ever told in my entire life.   Connor’s eyes widen at my words and his face falls, every ounce of fire gone from his gaze.   He backs away then smiles weakly at me.“Well, Merry Fucking Christmas Nina, because you have it all anyway.”