lauren destefano

He looks at me, and I don't know what he sees. I used to think it was Rose. But she's not here with us now, in this room. It's just him and me, and the books. I feel like our lives are in those books. I feel like all the words on the pages are for us.

— Lauren DeStefano

His lips are familiar. I know the shape of them, know how to make mine fit against them. His taste is familiar too. For all the illusions and colors and sweet smells... he has always tasted like skin. His breaths are shallow. I'm holding his life against my tongue, between my rows of teeth. He's offering it up.

— Lauren DeStefano

I don't dare touch her. Loss is a knowledge I'm sorry to have. Perhaps the only thing worse than experiencing it, is watching it replay anew in someone else--all the awful stages picking up like a chorus that has to be sung.

— Lauren DeStefano

It's quiet for a while, and then Rowan says; "We could talk now. We're alone out here. No walls."" There are always walls." I say.

— Lauren DeStefano

Just being alive feels so arduous that all I want to do is climb under the covers and sleep.

— Lauren DeStefano

My father warned me that you’re an interloper. He told me I should make you leave, since we’re no longer married, and you’re not my concern,” he says. The thought gives me a chill. Yes, I’m sure Vaughn would love for his son to abandon me, so that Vaughn can swoop in and reclaim me the second I’m alone. But Linden adds, “I told him that wouldn’t be a good idea either.

— Lauren DeStefano

There is no darkness like that of a confined space.

— Lauren DeStefano

They're dead. We're alive. We have things to do.

— Lauren DeStefano

Trust is the strongest weapon.

— Lauren DeStefano

Wanting to be happy is not stupid.

— Lauren DeStefano