You know what the secret is? It's so simple. We love one another. We're nice to one another. Do you know how rare that is? - Carmen

When you feel someone else's pain and joy as powerfully as if it were your own, then you know you really loved them.

He was the strangest of strangers in that he was also her oldest friend.

They were absolutely lovely, and in their presence, so was she.

Lena realized that a fundamental layer of their happiness depended on the four of them being close to one another. Their lives were independent and full. Their friendship was only one aspect of their lives, but it seemed to give meaning to all the others.

You broke up with him," a combination Effie-Carmen voice in her head reminded her.

"But that didn't mean you were allowed to stop loving me," she felt like saying to him.