Lobster

“I watched you because I like you. And…don’t call me ‘Four,’ okay? It’s…nice. To hear my name again.”
She looks momentarily bewildered.
“But you’re older than I am…Tobias.”
It sounds so good when she says it. Like it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
“Yes, that whopping two-year gap really is insurmountable, isn’t it?”
― Veronica Roth, Four: A Divergent Story Collection

“She was looking at him steadily; he however, found it difficult to look back at her; it was like gazing into a brilliant light.

Nice view, he said feebly, pointing toward with window.

She ignored this. He could not blame her.

I couldn't think what to get you, she said.

You didn't have to get me anything.

She disregarded this too.

I didn't know what would be useful. Nothing too big, because you wouldn't be able to take it with you.

He chanced a glance at her. She was not tearful; that was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, she was rarely weepy. He had sometimes thought that having six brothers must have toughened her up.

She took a step closer to him.

So then I thought, I'd like you to have something to remember me by, you know, if you meet some Veela when you're off doing whatever you're doing.

I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest.

There's the silver lining I've been looking for, she whispered, and then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion better than firewhiskey; she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair-

The door banged open behind them and they jumped apart.

Oh, said Ron pointedly. Sorry.

Ron! Hermione was just behind him, slight out of breath. There was a strained silence, then Ginny had said in a flat little voice,

Well, happy birthday anyway, Harry.

Ron's ears were scarlet; Hermione looked nervous. Harry wanted to slam the door in their faces, but it felt as though a cold draft had entered the room when the door opened, and his shining moment had popped like a soap bubble. All the reasons for ending his relationship with Ginny, for staying well away from her, seemed to have slunk inside the room with Ron, and all happy forgetfulness was gone.

He looked at Ginny, wanting to say something, though he hardly knew what, but she had turned her back on him. He thought that she might have succumbed, for once, to tears. He could not do anything to comfort her in front of Ron.

I'll see you later, he said, and followed the other two out of the bedroom.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

“You’ve been paying close attention, haven’t you?” she asks, like she just read my mind. But she’s not talking about me looking at her face.
“I like to observe people,” I say slyly.
“Maybe you were cut out for Candor, Four, because you’re a terrible liar.”
I set my hand down next to hers and lean closer. “Fine.” Her long, narrow nose is no longer swollen from the attack, and neither is her mouth. She has a nice mouth. “I watched you because I like you. And…don’t call me ‘Four,’ okay? It’s…nice. To hear my name again.”
She looks momentarily bewildered.
“But you’re older than I am…Tobias.”
It sounds so good when she says it. Like it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
― Veronica Roth, Four: A Divergent Story Collection

“Were you a transfer too?”
“I thought I would only have trouble with the Candor asking too many questions,” I say. “Now I’ve got Stiffs, too?”
As it was with Christina before, my sharpness is intended to slam doors before they open too much. But Tris’s mouth twists like she tastes something sour, and she says, “It must be because you’re so approachable. You know. Like a bed of nails.”
Her face flushes as I stare at her, but she doesn’t look away. Something about her seems familiar to me, though I swear I would remember if I had ever met such a sharp Abnegation girl, even for just a second.
“Careful, Tris,” I say. Careful what you say to me, is what I mean, careful what you say to anyone, in this faction that values all the wrong things, that doesn’t understand that when you come from Abnegation, standing up for yourself, even in small moments, is the height of bravery.
As I say her name, I realize how I know her. She’s Andrew Prior’s daughter. Beatrice. Tris.”
― Veronica Roth, Four: A Divergent Story Collection