Now that I look at these again after reading Days in Summer, I realise how well they fit in together with that narrative - like snapshots taken in its course. Again, I love the tone, a great balance between poignant and uplifting, matter-of-fact and romantic. Both of them carry different kinds and extents of damage and emotional baggage, and it is great to see them dealing with it and helping each other deal with it in a surprisingly functional relationship.

As particular asides, (1) I love how fitting all the titles are; and (2) I love the way Curt sums up what would have happened then-vs-now - I said it elsewhere but it bears repeating:

“I’d have wrecked your life. Knowing where I was back then, I’d have probably gotten you onto
smack and all kinds of hard shit - and treated you like crap, too. It would have been a disaster [...] And I wouldn’t be able to have you now.”