- No, No... She Shook Her Head

I Can't Get It Out," She Said. "just Pull At It." "it Hurts. It's Throbbing." "pull Harder." "i Can't! It's Truly Stuck. I Need Something To Make It Slippery. Do You Have Some Sort Of Lubricant Nearby?" "no." "not Anything?" "much As It May Surprise You, We've Never Needed Lubricant In The Library Before Now.

I Reflected That For All The People You Lost Touch With Or Couldn't Hold On To, Life Occasionally Made Up For It By Giving You The Right Person At The Right Time.

I Love You, Marks. My Heart Is Completely And Utterly Yours. And Unfortunately For You, The Rest Of Me Comes With It.

As We Talked, I Had The Sense Of Uncovering Something Precious And Long-buried, Fully Formed. Our Conversation Was A Process Of Removing Layers, Some Of Them Easily Dusted Away. Other Layers, Requiring Chisels Or Axes, Were Left Alone For Now. We Revealed As Much As We Dared About What Had Happened During The Years That Separated Us. But It Wasn't What I Had Expected, Being With Hardy Again. There Was Something In Me That Remained Stubbornly Locked Away, As If I Were Afraid To Let Out The Emotion I Had Harbored For So Long.

Because Letting Someone In Close Meant They Could Hurt You. I Knew All About That Kind Of Fear. I Lived With It.