“I reach across my bed, half expecting to be greeted by Blake's green eyes and warm smile, but grab only folds of comforter. I am alone. The realization is met with the same ache I've felt since leaving Blake. It isn't disappointment exactly. It's more visceral than that. I don't want to be one of those girls who think they're in love with a boy just because they hooked up. So there. I am not in love with Blake Willliams. I just miss him is all.”

“Oh, God don’t let me hurt him.Am I really doing this? Here? Is this real?We’re in the middle of nowhere. No one is going to find us. Even the fire has gone out.He’s dead. I’m just beating on his body.My arms hurt. How can my arms hurt now? Blake. I can’t. I can’t be here without you.I’ve got to be positive. I have to know he’ll make it.We’re going to grow old together, Blake. We’re going to hold hands and kiss.I’m giving you all my energy. All this love and hope. It’s going from my heart to yours, through my hands.Feel it, Blake. Feel it.I love you so much. I’m going to love you forever. Can you feel that, Blake?Am I imagining that? Your skin?Blake! Blake, your skin! It’s just like glass, Blake. You’re really sparkling. I can see it. I can really see it. Your skin is amazing!You’re glistening, Blake. I’ll never stop. I’ll never stop.”

“What exactly, my love, do you think you’re doing?” Blake looked down at her.“These stairs make me nervous. I just wanted to make sure you got down them okay.” Livia felt silly now. He was obviously fine. Their slow spiraling dance actually made her a little dizzy instead.“And if I trip like the delicate flower that I am?” Blake asked, drawing near.“I was hoping I would break your fall, if you fell…which you won’t.”

“Look at me. Please.” It was more than a whisper but less than a shout. She got quieter. “Blake, please.”His green eyes found hers. She spoke as if they were alone.“I made a mistake,” Livia began. “I know you overheard me talking to my dad. I needed him to understand who you are, but I had to talk on his level. As a father he needed to know I was being decisive. I don’t think you heard the last part when I told him you were the path I wanted to take.”A flicker. Was it hope? Livia smiled.Blake’s lips moved, and she knew he’d counted her smile. “I’ll make mistakes. I know I will,” she continued. “I want to be perfect for you. But I’m human. I can only be me. That probably isn’t enough for a soul as beautiful as yours. But if I hurt you by accident, can’t we stay and hold hands until we fix it? Can’t we fix it?” Livia now spoke louder than she wanted to, but she had to be heard over the cacophony.Blake bit his lip. “You’re perfect.”“No, sweetheart. I can’t even pretend to be perfect. Look where we are right now. That’s my fault, Blake.”Here. I need to tell him now. “Blake, I love you,” Livia confessed quietly.The tears in her eyes had nothing to do with smoke this time.Livia leaned toward Blake and tried again, louder still.“Blake, I love you.”Livia shouted in the silence because now her soul was free. “I love you, Blake!”She smiled as he mouthed the words back to her.”

“I can tell you no one will touch him. Not now. The only person who’s a danger to Blake is Blake. And maybe you.”

“(about William Blake)As for Blake's happiness--a man who knew him said: "If asked whether I ever knew among the intellectual, a happy man, Blake would be the only one who would immediately occur to me."And yet this creative power in Blake did not come from ambition. ...He burned most of his own work. Because he said, "I should be sorry if I had any earthly fame, for whatever natural glory a man has is so much detracted from his spiritual glory. I wish to do nothing for profit. I wish to live for art. I want nothing whatever. I am quite happy."...He did not mind death in the least. He said that to him it was just like going into another room. On the day of his death he composed songs to his Maker and sang them for his wife to hear. Just before he died his countenance became fair, his eyes brightened and he burst into singing of the things he saw in heaven. ”