“I'm trying to protect you. From myself. I don't do..." he swung a finger back and forth between us"...this.”

“He knows what I'm thinking. Always. We're connected. The atoms between us ferry messages back and forth.”

“The only thing you're safe from is everyone and everything else. I can protect you from literally anything but myself. Pray that i don't love you, Juliette. I'm scared of what will happen to you if i do" - The Last Girl”

“This is it, Lake," I say pointing back and forth between us. "It's real now. I'm not walking away from you again. Ever." Her eyes fill with tears. "Promise?" she whispers."I swear. I love you so much." A tear rolls down her cheek. "Say it again," she whispers.”

“It's not that i don't want you. I lied, earlier, when i said i was protecting you. I'm protecting myself. I don't want to be your rebound, Jacqueline." "Then why are you assuming that role? It's not what i want, either." "What am i gonna do with you?" "I can think of a couple things.”

“And some small gnarled place inside me hated her for her weakness, for her neglect, for the months she had put us through. I had taken a step back from my mother, put up a wall to protect myself from needing her, and nothing was ever the same between us again.”