[ consider how quickly he went from 0 to 80 to 200 on a scale where the cap is 100. how quickly they both shot to being unhinged, actually, like they knew deep down as they are they'd be better off without each other. funny how that works—but now that they're both this deep, there's nowhere to go but down.

he thinks about how thorns' hand had been around his neck, and his hand trails down to curl his fingers loosely around it. they talked about collars, but what they really have around one another are nooses, don't they? ]

All of me exists for you. Then, now, and in the future. If we never involved ourselves with Rhodes' business, we would've never had to deal with something so annoying…

[ risk looms. he hates it. ]