I love you

"I love you."

It's supposed to be the phrase that conquers anything and finds a way through everything. Love is supposed to be unconditional and magical; it's meant to be the catalyst to a new kind of happiness...

But what happens when it's not enough? What happens when two people love each other, but that's not enough to make it work? Most people have experienced this at least once in their lives, but it's the type of heart breaking experience that only gets worse with age.

This love was supposed to be the one you finally settled down with, this was the one you were supposed to start a family with. You're getting older, your options are limiting. And you love them so much, why couldn't it just work, why couldn't all that love find a way to make it work?

I am a pessimist and a cynic, but I'm also a writer and a natural romantic. I see the world's darkest aspects and generally believe the worst of people, and yet I still believe in love, somehow. After having my heart broken again and again and always falling for the wrong guy, a part of me still believes in the right one.

My whole life I've seen why love wasn't enough. I saw it destroy my parents marriage, and watched it not be enough to save my first step father, and I watched it rip my mother and her soul mate apart, because love just wasn't enough. But then love was enough when they fought to be with each other again...

I love you. I've heard it so many ways, from so many people, in so many different aspects of my life; friends, family, boyfriends... But love... Is what you make it. And it's certainly not as easy as many try to make it seem.

I don't need to hear "I love you," I need to hear "I will fight for you," "we will make this work," "I will do whatever it takes to keep you," because when it comes down to it, love isn't what matters, it's what comes after.