called out

In the novel I'm reading today, I suddenly felt pounded by the realization that someone else Gets Something® that I thought I was The Only One Who Got It®. Here's the relevant passage from Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian:

“Why isn't it enough?” Simon asks when they're in the car heading back to the city, Edie passed out on the back seat between them.

“What isn't enough?”

“They love me. And I love them?” He doesn't mean for it to be a question. “I mean, I do. But not, like, actively. Except Nora.” He tries to fill his lungs. “And my mom?”

Charlie doesn't ask what it means to love someone but not actively love them, which is good because Simon doesn't have any answers. All he knows is that he's unsatisfied down to his bones, greedy for something he can't identify.

[emphasis added]