Alex North

Courage is not the absence of fear, Pete knew. Courage requires fear.

“I just wanted you to know that things were complicated. That I was. I’m sorry.”

And then there really was nothing else to say.

It was always best not to get your hopes up.

But always so hard not to.

There were as many paths out of hell as there were people, and the vast majority of them ascended.

She didn’t want to believe that the things you missed—the things you never even had the opportunity to hit—could weigh you down so much that they threatened to drown you.

There would always be mistakes you never saw in time.

He’d always been so stern and serious—so dark, like a house in which the owner stubbornly refused to turn on any lights. Right now, though, a single room seemed to be illuminated.

She wanted this new light to stay.

“Sometimes you’ve got to leave it at the door at the end of the day. Do you know what I mean?”