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I wish someone had told me that love isn’t torture… I did not know that it was supposed to make you lighter, not heavier. I didn’t know it was supposed to take only the kind of work that makes you softer. I thought love was war… I didn’t know it was supposed to be peace.
This quote comes from Chapter 14 of “Aurora” as Daisy is reflecting on her marriage to Nicky. Here, Daisy recognizes that she pursued a relationship with Nicky because she has a warped definition of love. Daisy realizes that love feels like war because, until this point in her life, she’s only experienced relationships that felt like battles, relationships in which she constantly has to choose between herself and the person she’s with. For example, when she was with Wyatt, he misperceived her in his songs, and when she corrected his image of her, he stole her lyrics. This suggests not only that he could not see her, but that he didn’t respect her creative agency. Men like Hank and Nicky kept Daisy high in order to control her and keep her docile. Before Billy, Daisy didn’t know what love was, and through her relationship with him, she learns that it can be a force that lifts her up and grants her peace.
We are talking about probably the first man in my life who really saw me, who ever really understood me, who had so much in common with me… and he still didn’t love me. When you find that rare person who really knows who you are and they still don’t love you… I was burning
This quote comes from Chapter 8 of “Aurora” when Daisy is hurt and angry on the beach, reflecting on what it felt like to be rejected by Billy after she tries to kiss him. Here, Daisy is achingly close to the love that she wants, feeling for perhaps the first time in her life what it means to be seen the way she wants to be seen and to be understood by someone who respects her. Still, their love is thwarted, as Billy is in a relationship with Camila and Daisy is still under the sway of her addictions. In love for perhaps the first time in her life, Daisy is facing the brutal realities of true love. Though it doesn't inflict the kind of suffering she is used to, it is not without pain. She lets her emotions out in a vengeful song, wishing that Billy regrets how he made her feel. She seeks to hurt him, as their romantic entanglement has hurt her.
I’m not saying that I didn’t care. I cared a lot. I’m saying that when you really love someone, sometimes the things they need may hurt you, and some people are worth hurting for
This quote comes from Chapter 8 of “Aurora” after Billy and Daisy nearly kiss and Billy is reflecting on his relationship with Camila, recalling a time when Camila had lunch with an old flame. Camila was gone for four hours, and she never discussed what happened with Billy. Here, Billy describes the way he and Camila balance openness with trust as a means to explain, or perhaps justify, the fact that he and Camila never spoke openly about Billy’s feelings for Daisy. Billy realizes that what he needs, or thinks he needs, often causes Camila pain. Throughout their relationship, she has forgiven him and stood by him when he was lost, cheated, and gave in to the temptation to use drugs and alcohol. He sees pain as integral to love. Camila has hurt him, too, and he believes she’s worth hurting for. Camila echoes similar sentiments, saying that Billy broke her heart with the way he loved Daisy in front of her.
