User blog comment:Fadingsilverstar16/For those who do not know yet (and I'm sure that would be... most of you?)/@comment-1874924-20101112065018/@comment-1874924-20101116043226

My take on all this is that the feelings Heather and Noah are developing for each other are genuine--it's the source of those feelings that is suspect. (And you're right, it doesn't sound terribly healthy, but that ties in well with the insanity/tragedy that they have to deal with.)

Their interpretation of their feelings toward each other is also sketchy. They seem to be interpreting their feelings as romantic or proto-romantic because they are the same age and are not unattractive people, but the real dynamic (in the last few chapters, anyway) looks more like mother and child, especially with Heather's protectiveness. In much of the animal kingdom, mothers will lay down their lives for their young without a second thought, and that is still the first impulse in humans, as well.

On a peripherally related note, I was hoping to get the playlist additions posted last weekend, but a number of factors conspired to prevent that. If I don't decide that any of these don't fit as well as I thought (one or two are kind of on the bubble) I currently have 8 songs for Chapter 17, as well as an "infill" song for an earlier chapter.