Quote 13
We were kissing. Zero layers between us. Our tongues dancing back and forth in each other's mouth until there was no her mouth and my mouth but only our mouths intertwined. (thelastday.72)
Check out the language here. "Dancing" and "intertwined" are much more poetic and passionate than the language Miles uses about Lara. And the writing is much more fluid and less choppy, too. Kissing is different with Alaska than with Lara. Why?
Quote 14
We didn't have sex. We never got naked. I never touched her bare breast, and her hands never got lower than my hips. It didn't matter. As she slept, I whispered, "I love you, Alaska Young." (thelastday.77)
Focus on the sentence, "It didn't matter." What didn't matter? Why is the sexual experience with Lara unfulfilling but simply kissing with Alaska is beyond Miles's wildest dreams? And what's the significance of him saying the three words he couldn't say before? And the fact that he doesn't say them when she's awake?
Quote 15
And I said, "Oh God, Alaska, I love you. I love you," and the Colonel whispered, "I'm so sorry, Pudge. I know you did," and I said, "No. Not past tense." She wasn't even a person anymore, just flesh rotting, but I loved her present tense. (6after.11)
Ah, yes—this is a good time to think about what love is to Miles. He says he loves Alaska, he pursues her throughout his time at the Creek, but the question arises: does he really love her, or does he love parts of her, or does he love an Alaska who doesn't exist?