“Never trust a politician, Todd. They have no fixed center, so you can never believe them.”

“And it’s a sad song, Todd, but it’s also a promise. I’ll never deceive you and I’ll never leave you and I promise you this so you can one day promise it to others and know that it’s true.”

“No," I say firmly. "If you ever doubt anything here, if you ever not know what to think or who to trust, you trust Todd, okay? You remember that.”

“Nobody has to tell nobody nothing,” I say, taking another step forward.“You never were a poet, were you, Todd?” he says.”

“I was just trying to stay alive, looking for ways to find you, hoping you hadn't left me behind.""Never," I say. "Not never."He looks back up at me. "I'd never leave you neither.""You promise?""Cross my heart, hope to die," he says, grinning shyly."I promise, too," I say and I smile at him. "I ain't never leaving you, Todd Hewitt, not never again.”

“TODD!" I yell again and I reach him and his Noise opens even farther and wraps around me like a blanket and I'm grabbing him to me, grabbing him to me like I'll never let him go and he calls out in pain but his other arm is grabbing me back - "I thought you were dead," he's saying, his breath on my neck. "I thought you were dead.""Todd," I say and I'm crying and the only thing I can say is his name. "Todd.”

“It's not that you should never love something so much that it can control you.It's that you need to love something that much so you can never be controlled.It's not a weakness.It's your best strength.”