“Dad, he's different. He's not going to take advantage of me.""I hope not, 'cause I'd hate to go to prison for murder."I laughed and went to hug him but he wasn't amused."Dad, I'll be ok. Caleb is a nice guy and very responsible. I promise you I won't do anything stupid and neither will he. I'm sure he wants to stay alive and keep his limbs intact. Ok?""Ok," he conceded with a sigh.”

“He Wrote, Are you OK?I told him, My eyes are crummy.He wrote, But are you OK?I told him, That's a very complicated question.He wrote, That's a very simple answer.I asked, Are you OK?He wrote, Some mornings I wake up feeling grateful.”

“He held out the hand that wasn't holding up the blankets, palm out. 'OK,' he said. 'OK, think, Collins, think - yeah, OK, this is awkward, and I'm really sorry, because I'm sure you're really - Oh, man. What the hell did I do? Was there drinking? There must have been drinking.”

“I'm okay with meeting your dad. I can't promise he's going to be okay meeting me.”

“Now that Dad was crying, I was, like, both of us can't be sitting on rocks in Antarctica crying. “It's going to be OK, Dad.”

“Well,I hope you like the ring." He held it out to me, he velvet lid still closed. "My mom hates it.""I'm sure I'll love it,then," I said, and he laughed.”