Vivi

“Will you at least look at me when I'm talking to you?"

"Can't."

"What?" She sounds startled. "What do you mean you can't?"

"Can't look at you."

She hesitates. "Why not?"

"Too pretty."

...

"Why won't you look at me?" she says.

"I already told you why I won't look at you, and you laughed at me."

She's quiet for so long I wonder if she's walked away. Finally she says, "I thought you were joking."

"Well, I wasn't."

More silence.

Then: "Do you always say exactly what you're thinking?"

"Most of the time, yeah." Gently, I bang my head against the door.”
― Tahereh Mafi, Defy Me

“It hurts, Jacks.”
“I know, love. I’m going to take you somewhere safe.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“I do not want you dead, and I’ll kill anyone who tries.”
― Stephanie Garber, The Ballad of Never After

“We must remember to say what’s in our hearts aloud because we can never know if it’ll be the last time we’ll ever get the chance.”
― T.J. Klune, Brothersong