"‘You never knew this, but from the day I met you, you've meant everything to me,’ I said. ‘I'd decided that if you died, I would die immediately.’

I was speaking of the past, and tried to sound detached.

Andrée continued looking at me, confused. ‘I thought it was only your books and studies that truly counted for you.’

‘You came first,’ I said. ‘I would have given up everything not to lose you.’”

(Simone de Beauvoir, The Inseparables)