Joy

“Fun is hard to have when you have lifelong anxiety, when new places and people make your throat close and your chest tighten, when everywhere you go, you’re told you carry a family name and its reputation on your shoulders, that there’ll be hell to pay if you fail it.”
― Chloe Liese, Two Wrongs Make a Right

“But rest assured, my Queen, when I do kiss you, there will be no confusion. You will know that I have claimed you—and I won’t have any desire to deny it.”
― Penn Cole, Glow of the Everflame

“It seems to me, Annie, that you are just waiting for someone to give you permission to be yourself out loud.”
― Sarah Adams, Practice Makes Perfect

“Pain is a part of love,” my mom said calmly. “When you open yourself up, pain is inevitable. But you do it anyway because love is worth it.”
― Ashley Winstead, Fool Me Once