Lily

“She cannot stop herself from reaching out, from trying with a touch to say, I'm here. Sometimes you have to hold a person, though they'll mistake embrace for strangulation.”
― Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War

“You’re beautiful,” I told her. The fountains’ jets bubbled around us.
“You’re foxed,” she said.
“You stare at me sometimes, too. I see you sneaking glances.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Midnight Lie

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I'll write it in waves. In skies. In my heart. You'll never see, but you will know. I'll be all the poets, I'll kill them all and take each one's place in turn, and every time love's written in all the strands it will be to you.”
― Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War

“We'll look like a couple."

"Do you want that?"

Truth can demand so much bravery. I did not feel brave. I would not have been brave, if her question hadn't sounded a little hopeful. Yes, I wanted everyone to think she belonged with me, that I belonged with her. Yes, even if it was only for one night. My voice was small. "I do.”
― Marie Rutkoski, The Midnight Lie