“It's like pain, this pleasure.”

“He squeezes my hand, and my heart punches against my ribs. It's just like pain, this pleasure.”

“Like we were connected, the echo of his pain twisted inside inside me. his pain, my pain.”

“I've never felt normal, because I'm not normal, and I don't wanna be. I've had to face death and loss and pain in your world, but I've also never felt stronger, like more real, more myself, because it's my world too. It's where I belong.”

“It didn’t feel like the pain had weakened over time, rather that I’d grown strong enough to bear it.”

“I could live through it. It didn't feel like the pain had weakened over time, rather that I'd grown strong enough to bear it.”

“His touch brought with it the strangest sense of relief — as if I’d been in pain and that pain had suddenly ceased.”