“I never used to understand why people bothered to hold hands as they walked, but then he runs one of his fingertips down my palm, and I shiver and understand it completely”

“HAND IN HAND, we walk toward the Pit. I monitor the pressure of my hand carefully. One minute, I feel like I’m not gripping hard enough, and the next, I’m squeezing too hard. I never used to understand why people bothered to hold hands as they walked, but then he runs one of his fingertips down my palm, and I shiver and understand it completely.”

“And he understands. He understands why people hold hands: he’d always thought it was about possessiveness, saying This is mine. But it’s about maintaining contact. It is about speaking without words. It is about I want you with me and don’t go.”

“Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.”

“The last time I saw him he was walking down Lover's Lane holding his own hand. ”

“If he wasn't already holding my heart in the palm of his hand, I would have taken it out and given it to him right then.”