Home > Work > Aftermath (Sirantha Jax, #5)
1 " He is not the same person as when wemet, but . . . neither am I. Time has refined us, but instead of pushing us apart, we’re closer than ever. "
― Ann Aguirre , Aftermath (Sirantha Jax, #5)
2 " . . . and I don’t expect him to suborn his life into mine any more than I would change my dreams for him. We’re not one soul, one being, however much we love each other. "
3 " For I need this scar over my heart to remind me. Crazy as it sounds, if I can bear the wound on my body, it lessens what I must carry on my soul. How he knew that about me, I cannot fathom. "
4 " We stand a professional distance apart, as if I can’t feel his pain screaming in my head. Mine amplifies his; they share a joint sound—that of glass breaking—until they swell to a crescendo that deafens. "
5 " More than most, I know the pain of surviving. "
6 " What you said about the sweetest pain? That fits us. "
7 " So I make no effort to hide my pain. I don’t ever put it all on display like this—but for today and all the rest of the days of the trial, I must. My every flinch, every flicker of pain, will bemagnified a hundred times over, then dissected by the pundits and talking heads. But I’m told it’s necessary; the world needs to see me vulnerable and wounded. I cannot appear not to care or to lack remorse, but that removes a crucial component of my self- defense mechanism and leaves me bleeding for all the world to see. I suppose that’s rather the point. "
8 " For love to flourish there has to be trust. Promises don’t matter as much aspersonal choice. "
9 " Survival feels like cowardice. "
10 " This guilt is a joke, and it’s exhausting to watch you martyr yourself. "
11 " What they don’t know is, no matter how they decide, they can’t penalize me more than I’m already punishing myself. "
12 " I don’t think I’ve ever seen your handwriting before. It’s an oddly personal thing, isn’t it? "
13 " It’s easy to do right when everything goes right. But let everything go wrong, and see how difficult it becomes. "
14 " I shake my head, but I can’t change this. I can only bear the scars, as I have always done, as I ever do. "
15 " But the world moves on, even when you don’t want it to, even when change feels like the end of everything. It never stops. That’s harsh and magical and somewhat comforting because nothing is immutable, however much we want it to be. Moments cannot be caught like fossils in amber, ever- perfect,ever-beautiful. They go dark and raw, full of shadows, leaving you with the memories. And the world moves on. "
16 " Each love is unique. Special. Giving to one never takes away from another. "
17 " Dying isn’t like living; it requires no effort at all. "
18 " He’s worth fighting for, but I won’t change who I am for any man. No more than he should alter himself to suit me. "
19 " She carries chaos like an overcoat. "
20 " Sometimes I miss the old me. "
