"I don't think I know what it means to be happy," The words tumble from my mouth, and I don't know what I'm about to say. "I've smiled, I've laughed, but I've never meant it. When people ask how I am I tell them I'm fine; I can't remember ever answering that question honestly," I've said too much. _Too much. Too much. Too much._

"Will you answer it honestly now?"

I didn't expect this. ...

You are so _beautiful_. Every part of you. The outside, the inside, and everything in between. Your green eyes, they're more than green. Green is too simple, too bland a word to use. Your eyes look like a forest, the sea, and the sun. So uniquely beautiful. I used to think your eyes were blue, but that was before I got lost in their depth. Before I _heard_ them. Now that I do, I see, feel, and und...

Jacob and I stand amid the rubble of The Village. Dozens of homes are blazing, the flames reaching higher and higher.

The Villagers who once lived here are _gone_. The Flame has them now, the way It has me.

I take Jacob's hand, though it's cold, and squeeze it as hard as I'm able. He doesn't know me anymore, and I don't know him. I _shouldn't_ know him. He's my secret.

"I'll fix ...

We are mosaics of every person we have ever known. Our faces are combinations of people who have loved each other longer than we've been alive. This pattern of life will repeat; over and over and over. People we used to know say or do something because, once, they saw us say or do the same. Every person we have ever known has stayed with us in some way, even the people we wish to forget. We are cr...

"I've come to a conclusion." Cassie glances downward at her bare toes hidden in the sand.

"What might that be?" Edward's tone is quizzical with a hint of amusement, but Cassie isn't trying to amuse him - for once.

"I think," She doesn't quite know how to say it. "I think, sometimes, the only way to really forget everything is to go to sleep."

Edward doesn't answer for a moment, s...

Ammer's heart aches deep within him, as if a damn has broken releasing an ocean of grief.

He collapses to the earth beneath him.

Cree's lifeless body lays untouched before him. Ammer watches for a breath, a stir, a single muscle movement - but there's nothing. Cree has never been so still, not even in his sleep.

All at once, the sobs come. The wailing. A sound Ammer never knew h...

This was my home once. Now, all I see is four walls and a roof.

I walk upon the floors stained by footprints of varying sizes.

This is the place I was born, the place I grew into the woman I am.

Nobody's home. Every room is bare. This house is empty.

Everyone has left; some to explore this world, others the next.

I am alone here, in this place I once belonged.

I ...

I can't tell you I love you, yet. Although the meaning behind that phrase is emodied throughout everything I do, I cannot say those three words, yet.

I cannot say them, because you cannot say them, and I will wait for you.

The truth is, I don't know if I'm ready to say them yet. There are pieces of me that must be dug up and replanted. There are parts of me I'm not proud of. There are ...

Jacob's eyes are so beautiful. Autumn leaves, beachy sand, trunks of trees - his eyes are a place of wonder and mystery.

"I love you," I don't understand the words escaping my lips. "I love you, Jacob."

"What?" His eyebrows raise as those mesmerizing eyes light up, whether with shock or excitement I can't decipher.

"I mean it." I wonder, for a moment, if I _do_ mean it.

Tho...

"You've caused me so much pain, yet the love I feel for you blinds me of it." Tabitha's voice rises several octaves, anguish etched on every feature of her face.

"I never asked you to love me."

"Love isn't something you ask for, Rho."

Rho falls to his knees before Tabitha. "I know," his voice breaks. "I never wanted to hurt you. I didn't know how to love you properly."

"Oh,...