.“We’ve known each other for almost half our lives.

    I’ve seen you smiling, confident, blissfully happy.

    I’ve seen you broken, wounded, lost.

    But I’ve never seen you like this.”

The novel begins with these words spoken by Lucy. They describe an important relationship in Lucy’s life and lay the foundation of the novel’s structure. The novel is revealed to be a one-sided conversation Lucy has with her former lover, Gabe Samson. These words show Lucy’s thoughts on seeing Gabe in his injured state, and they begin the conversation that fills the pages of the novel, foreshadowing the revelation of Gabe’s condition in the final chapters. The quote also expresses Lucy’s deep love for Gabe and leads to words that will showcase one of the themes of the novel, Finding Light in Darkness.

“I’ll always remember that passage because I’ve wondered so many times since that day whether you and I were fated to meet in Kramer’s Shakespeare seminar. Whether it’s destiny or decision that has kept us connected all these years. Or a combination of both, taking the current when it serves.”

Lucy refers to a quote from Julius Caesar that her professor recited during the Shakespeare seminar where she met Gabe. The quote includes words spoken by Brutus about fate. Throughout the novel, Lucy debates with herself whether it is fate that keeps her life intertwined with Gabe’s, or if it is choices the two of them make. This is the basis of the theme Freewill or Fate and Lucy’s conclusion in the final chapters of the novel.