Don’t blame loveLove is not a single thing that is shared among two people with romantic relations. It does not in the slightest require the emotional tug on your heart when they walk in the room, where you feel a tremendous tingle in your stom- ach. It doesn’t mean you have to look at the edges of their lips in hopes that they are doing the same because your appetite somehow always draws you to them. no. What if love is simply what makes two, one. What if love is what morphs you into one person, defying evolution so that it isn’t perceived as only a psychical process, but a mental one too. It’s the outcome of a strong, whole bond, until you notice you aren’t just a single person with their own desires, necessities, and life. You share these things in the midst of keeping boundaries. The perfect balance of having a companion that you don’t need to worry about pleasing all the time because you’ll never please them either. It’s both the sour and the sweet because you aren’t committing to a relationship. There is a promise to stay by their side through thick and thin, and there is a promise to accept what they are and who they are, but those things are givens. Easy. There’s nothing wrong with fulfilling your mind with them because of the extreme happiness they bring to you. Because of everything they’ve taught you. Because they don’t own your heart, but instead your soul. They own the part of you that is you. They don’t control your every move, but influence your choices so that it’s always in your best interest. They’re harsh in your vulnerable moments because it might be the only time you listen; at your weakest. Maybe it looks one sided. Maybe from the looks of things, everything is slipping from your grasp when you never thought they’d so much as forget about you. This is where things get hard; people change. When this happens, it feels as though your entire life is about to be disrupted, and whether it’s for the better or worse is your choice to make. Even though love is one of those things that never dies, if you’re not careful, it can hide itself. You will sit on your bed staring numbly into your closet, figuring out where everything went wrong. Wishing it was a relationship you were dwelling on, and not a friendship. Wishing it was as simple as breaking up and saying goodbye to confirm the departure. The death of a friendship has nothing to do with love, so don’t blame it please. Blame the circumstances of life that brought you to the hot tears streaming down your cheeks as you reminisce over the laughter, sleepovers, and secrets shared. Sure, it might be a faded love, but love is love and it’ll always be there to remind you of what once was. So don’t blame love, or you’ll ruin everything good in the world. And I can promise you that wasn’t their intention.