“Life knocks you down. It’s going to, and you got to just turn around and get back up, hold on to me if you have to, but always get back up. People will just walk all over you if you leave yourself beaten on the ground.”
“Here’s the twist to your story, Charlie. You ready for it?" he growled and nipped at my lower lip. "Breathe me in deep. Hold your breath. I will make you fall in love with me again. Because I sure as shit didn’t think I’d ever see you again, and I sure as shit didn’t think I could fall in love with you again, but I did." His hands gripped me tighter. "Like I was falling from a cliff, Charlie. Then...then…I realized when I hit the ground; I’ve been in love with you this whole time. It never stopped. I’ll never stop. I will never stop, and I will never give up on you." His voice lowered, “It was you from the beginning, the minute you taped that skull and crossbones to your window wearing those baggy jeans, that Nirvana T-shirt, and those God-awful chucks, you were my horizon. Everything I could ever see.”
“When I look back on all the past chapters of my life, I see all the pain I have endured. I see the mistakes and heartbreak, the horror and loss. But when I stand in front of the mirror now, I see all my scars and the strength I’ve found from them. I see the lessons I have learned about life and the wisdom I’ve gained from each of my experiences. I will be fine”
“Charlie. If someone ever breaks your wings, you just got to find some other way to fly. Show them what you’re worth, Charlie. Nobody should set your value but you.”
“Come on, Charlie, come with me down the rabbit hole.”
“Here’s to falling…” He levelled his eyes on both of us. “…in love…and to the best example of it that I’ve ever seen, which is sitting right in front of me. And here’s to hoping my two best friends finally find the guts to tell each other they’ve been in love with one another since the fourth fucking grade. Cheers.”
“It was always you. Always. There is nothing you can tell me that will make me look at you as anything other than my Charlie.”
“I wish there was a device implanted in out brains to record memories, so we could play them back and watch them whenever we wanted, like old home movies.”
“I want my best friend back. I want the best thing that ever happened to me back. And I promise you I will make you fall in love with me all over again. This time, it’ll be the forever kind.”
“I may have loved to read my romance and smut novels, but I was not blinded by the 'fiction' part of it all. I knew the difference between what was real and what came from a hopeless romantic's imagination.”
“Here’s my lesson to you: Don’t wish for a knight in shining armor. You’ll just end up spending most of your time doing lots of polishing. And that armor tarnishes faster than any other substance on earth; instead, spend that time on yourself.”
“Amen," he whispered against my lips. "Charlie...been all over the world, seen so many places, but I swear my favorite place is against your lips.”
“Here’s to falling…” He levelled his eyes on both of us. “…in love…and to the best example of it that I’ve ever seen, which is sitting right in front of me. And here’s to hoping my two best friends finally find the guts to tell each other they’ve been in love with one another since the fourth fucking grade. Cheers.”
“I want my best friend back. I want the best thing that ever happened to me back. And I promise you I will make you fall in love with me all over again. This time, it’ll be the forever kind.”
“Nobody should set your value but you.”
“I'm like a robot most of the time. Going through motions, getting through life one day at a time.”
“Very few guys sparked my interest and managed to hold it.”
“Life knocks you down. It’s going to, and you got to just turn around and get back up, hold on to me if you have to, but always get back up. People will just walk all over you if you leave yourself beaten on the ground.”
“It was always you. Always. There is nothing you can tell me that will make me look at you as anything other than my Charlie.”
“When I look back on all the past chapters of my life, I see all the pain I have endured. I see the mistakes and heartbreak, the horror and loss. But when I stand in front of the mirror now, I see all my scars and the strength I’ve found from them. I see the lessons I have learned about life and the wisdom I’ve gained from each of my experiences. I will be fine”
“That goes for old wounds, too, you know. I really wish we'd had the chance to talk before this," he says, cracking the window so the smoke can escape. "There's a Longfellow quote I have stuck on my bulletin board at the church office- 'There is no grief like the grief that does not speak'- and it's true. I've found that keeping pain inside doesn't give it a chance to heal, but bringing it out into the light, holding it right there in your hands and trusting that you're strong enough to make it through, not hating the pain, not loving it, just seeing it for what it really is can change how you go on from there. Time alone doesn't heal emotional wounds, Sayre, and you don't want to live the rest of your life bottled up with anger and guilt and bitterness. That's how people self-destruct.”
“The longer the wars, the younger the men who must finish them.”
“I will always try to live.”
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.” ~ Washington Irving”
“It'll end in tears and they won't be mine.”
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