It was a lesson most people learned much earlier; that even friendship could have an undisclosed shelf life. That loyalty and affection, so consuming and powerful, could dissipate like fog.

When you really connect to someone, you can crack their soul of stone and see through them as though they were crystal.

I believe a special relationship should really spring from close and loving friendship with the presence of patience, endurance, affection and respect aided with loyalty and mantled with faith and trust.

So I guess you could say Neel owes me a few favors, except that so many favors have passed between us now that they are no longer distinguishable as individual acts, just a bright haze of loyalty. Our friendship is a nebula.

Friends first."
"Even before Brett?"
"Always," Bekka said. Her lively freckled face was dead serious.
"Wow," Melody said in surprise. They really were friends. Hearing it helped her feel it. And feeling it was like sinking deeper into a warm bath.

Without loyalty, there are no other bonds of friendship.