Gideon watches them in the mirror and gently sways them back and forth, just to feel Harrow's birdlike weight in her arms, the warmth of her pressed all along her body. She flattens her hands on Harrow's belly and ribs, and considers sneaking at least one of them up under Harrow's shirt.

"For not being able to keep our hands off each other?" she asks. "Or because against all odds we fell in love and it is romantic in the extreme? Honestly, I'm okay with both, although I feel like most of those songs and poems end with someone's tragic death and I just want it noted that I am philosophically against that in this situation."