"Tears stung her eyes. She sank her knees next to the sleeping bench and gently raked strands of golden hair from him forehead.'Don't you die. Don't you dare. I forbid it.' As if Han Alister had ever listened to anything she said."

"... And you start telling a story about accidentally stealing shoes from an outlet and we've been on the steps for almost twenty minutes and you're so nervous and excited that you keep talking about shoes as if you have to keep talking about shoes or you might jump me right here, on the steps. I chose this spot because my whole fucking life I've walked by these steps and seen couples that make me feel alone, rejected. And now there are loners passing by you and me, jealous, and you're still talking and fuck, it's hard to listen when I can smell your body wash."