Ritchie Quotes

You’re not a pit stop. You’re my finish line. There’s no one after you.

Wait for me.” The words come out choked and pained. “I need you to wait for me.

People hope to touch the sky. I dream of kissing it.

Kiss the sky with me,” Connor whispers, a beautiful smile pulling his lips, “and don’t ever come down.

Freedom doesn’t come with age. It doesn’t magically appear when you’re a legal adult. It comes when you stand up for what you believe in.

No one told me you can love someone and still be miserable. How is that possible?

Broken souls are mended every day by mended souls that were once broken.

You’re a hothouse flower,” I tell her. “You can’t grow under natural conditions. You need adventure. And security and love in order to stay alive.

Sometimes the person we think we’ll become is the person we already are, and the person we truly become is the person we least expect.

I'll always be yours. No distance or time apart will change that, Lily.

I love you,” he says again, “and no other man will ever say those words and mean them the way I do.

The parts of me that I love the most are the parts that belong to her.

There are rare people who will fuel the fire inside of you, who will awaken a dormant passion, who will push you and better you. She alone is my rarity.

She’s the sun. I’m the dark. If she’s gone, I can kiss that fucking light away. Without her, I know I’ll never see it again.

Lily Calloway...all this time, your superpower has been loving me.

I love you, but I want to love you enough that I never choose alcohol over you. Not even for a moment. I want to be someone you deserve.

I’ve wanted so many things in life, but you’re the one that has meant the most to me.

You’re my favorite four-letter word.” -Daisy to Ryke

Well, Connor doesn’t believe in magic. If Hogwarts actually existed I’m sure they’d send an owl to shit on his head.

I speak for everyone here today,” he tells us, “when I say that you two—Lily and Loren—are the strongest people we’ve all ever had the honor to meet.

Lo: “How much did it hurt?” Ryke: “Did what hurt?” Lo: “Watching her with other guys.” Ryke: “It felt like someone was drowning me in fucking salt water and lighting me on fire.

Boys are like pillars,” Rose tells me. “Ryke is something to lean on. But they don’t make you move. You have to do that for yourself.

Ed?" Ritchie says later. We're still standing in the water. "There's only one thing I want." "What's that, Ritchie?" His answer is simple. "To want.

Promises from Lo are like bars at 2 a.m.--empty.

In his eyes, I’m some kind of perfect.

To me, he’s worth every loud moment, every peaceful silence, the crazy and the sad, the restless and the quiet.

Just repeat this phrase whenever you feel the urge to jump some other guy’s bones.” His mouth brushes my ear. “Loren Hale fucks better.

Cheekbones that cut like ice and eyes like liquid scotch. Loren Hale is an alcoholic beverage and he doesn't even know it.

Our love is rare. It’s one I can’t abandon, even if I tried. When she screams, an identical one rips through me. When she cries, my world rains with grief. When she loves, I truly, truly fly.

Beginnings are the hardest because they’re the parts that pull people in, that make them want the ends. And endings are the most painful, the parts that can leave you bleeding out.

She was a genius on paper. But not a team player. She was quick to loathe others. But not against loving. She was a complicated equation that didn't need to be solved.

Let me try to be enough for you.

I love you, Dais, because you’re the wildest fucking girl with the biggest fucking heart. And without you in my life”—he shakes his head like it’s an inconceivable picture—“I’d be the unhappiest fucking guy.

I want to live here. In his arms. Where I know it's safe.

But we’re in Earth-616, love. We’re going to have our happy ending. It just may take us awhile to get there.

He is my breath. My soul. My life-force. I have spent forever with him.

I want you for eternity, not for a brief finish line. There's no one after you.

There’s something about Lily that makes all the terrible parts of me seem irrelevant. That makes a bad day momentary and a good one infinite. It’s love like this that’s worth living for.

I’m remarrying you, Lil. Fuck, I’d remarry you a hundred times until it stuck.

You are your own anchor, Ryke. When you fail, you hurt yourself more than anyone else. Do you want to keep burning or are you going to let yourself rise

I know what you want, and you don't need to take it. I can give it to you.

You don't make me miserable. You make me want to live. And I want to live with you.

The fear of losing each other is always stronger than the pain we cause.

Because when you find something you love, you can’t quit. Every failure pushes you harder. It’s in your soul and in your fucking heart

… our favorite Sayings from Ryke Meadows. My favorite: I fucking love you. Willow’s: I don’t fucking understand Tumblr. Lo’s: Fuck you, you fucking fuck. Lily’s: Fucking fantastic. Rose’s: No means no. Better yet, fuck no. Connor’s: Connor Cobalt is a fucking narcissist.

I am the biographer of my own life. And no one can take that away from me.

Promises from Connor Cobalt are like oaths spilled in blood.

I fell in love with Lo like a little girl opening her heart to magic.

You love me,” I breathe. He lets out a short laugh. “You’re such a fucking girl.” “Say it again.” He smiles, a full blown one that tingles my body all over. “I fucking love you, sweetheart.

For the first time, I yearn for tomorrow and cherish yesterday and live for today. It’s peace that no one will take from me.

I had no one before Rose. No true friends. No family, not really. Now I have her. I have people I care about. People that I want to protect. Now I have everything. The only thing about having everything is that you can lose it all.

Never give up or back down on the things that fill your soul, Calloway. There is no worse life than a hollow one.

So long as I may be living, I live with you.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

I’ve watched Lo become sober. I’ve watched Lily curb a relentless addiction. (I’m proud of you, sis.) I’ve watched Rose blaze her own trail and put fire to stereotypes. I’ve watched Connor fall in love. With more than just himself. I’ve watched Ryke Meadows unclip his shackles and rise again. And me. I’ve discovered who I am.

I’m tougher than you think. You just need to believe in me. You know, like a fairy.

No means no. I don’t care when you say it, Lily. Once it’s out there, it’s out there. Any halfway decent guy would have backed off.

I’m attracted to people. To the words they speak, to the actions they take, to their full-bodied mannerisms and soulful gaits. I am attracted to people. To impassioned hearts that beat out of sync, the ones that skip a measure, heard in hushed places and violent spaces—I am attracted to people.

You're a permanent fixture in my life. You're not going anywhere.

Big bad wolf, are you going to eat me?" You're a dirty girl, Calloway. My gaze drops to her mouth. "Until you fucking scream.

I’m tragically in love with you too.

I can hear our hearts breaking." A tear wets my fingertips, his tears, and his other hand encases my face, the way mine does him. His lips nearly skim mine. "I’ll shield your ears from the sound of heartbreak.

Why is it that the people you come to love are the ones that seem to hurt you the most?

Fine. Such a stupid word really. It feels empty and weightless. It’s the kind of word you use to hide the truth.

I don’t need you,” she repeats, her voice breaking. “You’re right,” he says softly. “You don’t need a man, Rose.” He pauses and I barely hear him whisper, “But you do need me.

Our bad days have the ability to become better. It may be a horrible month. A horrible year. But there will be good days, good moments, great seconds.

I’m in love with you,” I whisper. He tries to smile but his eyes flood instead. “Don’t love me more than your dreams, myshka. Because I love you too much to let you give them up for me.

She fuels the fire in my soul, the embers slowly dying, and she tries feverishly to awaken me.

He's my drug that I gladly consume.

I love the way he’s staring at me. It makes me feel more than just beautiful. I feel like I’m his. Like no one else could possibly compare to me. He doesn’t even have to say the words. I see it in his eyes. I can practically read it in his mind.

We're all assholes," Lo tells Garrison. "But one day, you'll meet an asshole that pushes you to be a better person. Those are the ones that stick with you.

Because I think she loves you more than she loves sex. And you love her more than you love alcohol, but you two just haven’t let yourselves believe it yet.

I’ve wanted so many things in life,” he says softly, “but you’re the one that has meant the most to me.” Translation: I love you.

We’ve become something of a family. A dysfunctional, fucked up family.

I think that’s the thing about friends who aren’t quick to let others in. When they do give you their friendship, it means something more.” --Conner

I could not live without Lo. He is as much a part of me as the sun is a part of the sky, as the earth is to the universe. I need him in order to wake up in the morning. I need him to feel whole.

I have so many regrets. I don’t believe anyone who says they don’t. How can you live life making mistakes and never wish you could take one back?

First off, don’t swear to God around me. He’s not listening when I’m in the room.

A NOTE FROM RYKE   Fuck off.

Connor pinches her chin between his fingers, and he says, “Vous êtes enceinte.” You’re pregnant. I spit out my water. Just like that. One word. Enceinte. And my cover is blown. Fucking fuck

In this moment, I'm yours.

He stares at me like I’m the only one he wants here. Underneath him. “You and me,” he says and licks his lips. “We fuck like winners.

He stares down into me and says, “I’ll keep her safe.” My eyes well with tears while my lips pull high. “Against the world, Loren Hale?” “Yeah,” he nods. “Against the world, Lily Calloway. I’m familiar with that battle.

I need you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be here when you come home. There will always be an us.

We all traverse in and out of people’s worlds, leaving footprints. Some larger, some smaller, but there is always a mark. We can’t sweep it away.

She waltzes into the apartment, her Chanel handbag swinging on her arm like a weapon. Rose frightens children, pets, and even grown males with her icy eyes and chilling glares.

What’s going to happen,” he breathes, “is that I’m going to carry you through this door. I’m going to draw out every single moment until you’re exhausted. And I’m going to move so slow that three months ago will feel like yesterday. And tomorrow will feel like today, and no one in this fucking universe will be able to say your name without saying mine.

We never touched, but I made love to your mind.

Independence has nothing to do with whether or not someone chooses to be single or to be married, to have children or to not have children. Independence by definition is about self-governing. About choosing for yourself. About making your own decisions.

Lo,” I whisper, my fingers making circles on his black shirt. “I just want you to know that if you leave this world, I won’t be in it for much longer.” He’s a piece of me. You cut it off, and it’s like going through life with no lungs.

If someone asked me to name the first two attributes of Ryke Meadows, aggressive wouldn't even be on the list. In the heart of his soul lies kindness, wrapped tightly in selflessness that shows in almost every action.

Whether it's men, women—it doesn't really matter. The human race is filled with passion and lust. And to coin terms like heterosexuality, homosexuality or even bisexuality makes no sense to me. You are human. You love who you love. You fuck who you fuck. That should be enough—no labels. No stigmas. Nothing. Just be to be. But life isn't that kind. People will always find things to hate.

Lily Calloway…all this time, your superpower has been loving me.” Tears cloud my eyes, and they don’t stop, especially as he adds, “And you’ll be happy to know that I’m not mortal.” “You aren’t?” I choke. “No.” He shakes his head, brushing away the wetness beneath my eyes. “Because my superpower is the love that I have for you. It’s out of this world, extraordinary, incomprehensible kind of love. And no one and nothing on this Earth comes close to it.

I was waiting for the sun to chase me,” he breathes, drawing me to his chest. In one swift movement, my lips are on his. The world is spinning. He kisses me like this is the moment he’s envisioned all his life. Like this is heaven on Earth. For me, it is. A blissful moment before something that could be the end. The rush before the fear. He whispers, “I fucking love you.” I smile, my lips tingling. “Guess what?” “What?” “I love you more than chocolate cake.

Even when I was a kid, Lo would put his hands on my cheeks and kiss me really quickly, and we'd burst into laughter afterwards. He'd end up chasing me through the fancy parties that our parents brought us to, trying to steal another. I'd always let him catch me.

I knew from the beginning that we’d be addicted after all.” His amber eyes bore straight through me. “I just didn’t know whether we’d be at a better place than we were before.” We are. I don’t even have to say the words. He knows the answer too. We’re at the best place we’ve ever been, reaching a stasis together. It’s beautiful up here, and even if I fear falling, it’s nice to know I’ve been down that road before. And I can always walk to the top again.

My hand lowers to the small of her back, and I leave her with one last kiss to the forehead that feels more genuine than all the others. “You’ve bewitched me, body and soul.” She glares. “And you ruined it with a quote from Pride and Prejudice.” I grin. “What? I thought we were purposefully being cliché.” “Maybe next time, quote the book and not the film.” My eyebrow arches and I recite theatrically, “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.” I shake my head. “Doesn’t have the same ring to it, darling.

I’m dirty,” I refute, hot tears brimming. “You don’t want me.” His face twists in pain. “I don’t think that. Neither should you.” His lips graze my neck and then find my ear. “Lil, I want you to ask me. I need you to.” He presses his forehead to my temple, gently edging me closer to the mattress, his hands tight on my hips. I continue to struggle for breath. I know what he wants now. He wants this to be real. So do I. “Help me,” I say, breathlessly.

When I was seventeen you said you wanted to perform an autopsy on me, to crack open my ribcage and squeeze my heart until it burst between your fingers.” What is that—if not flirting? She lifts her head off a pillow to near me, propping her elbows on the mattress. “That was me hating you, Richard. I dreamed of your death.” “You dreamed of clutching my heart,” I rebut. “Of killing you,” she emphasizes. I lean closer to her, our eyes locking. “Vous m’aimiez.” You loved me.

Just yesterday I was twenty and meeting some of these people⏤people that I'd spend my life with, that'd become my home. Just yesterday I was twenty⏤still deeply and desperately in love with my best friend. I grew older. We all grow older. In a blink of an eye, our children will grow old too. And I'll think: just yesterday they were twenty. Headed for college. Falling in love. Memories will flood behind us, the lake house no longer filled to the brim. As quiet as the moment we first walked in⏤and we'll sit on this hill. Feeling the stillness that exists. And then we end⏤we end where we started. Just us. All six of us.