This word is far too short for us, it has only
four letters, too sparse
to fill those deep bare
vacuums between the stars
that press on us with their deafness.
It's not love we don't wish
to fall into, but that fear.

-Margaret Atwood

My code words when it came to love have always been "I could, if only." If he were more aggressive. If he left home and did something (anything) with his life. If he weren't so disgustingly optimistic and Jesusified. If he weren't so wholly cynical.

I am only now starting to learn that love is not an "if only." There may be qualities you wish your partner had, or things you'd like them to do, but they aren't, and can't be, conditionals of love.

You either want someone, and want to be with that person, under any circumstances, or you don't.

They're moody and you'd still rather be there more than anywhere else. You go to sleep and they are the last thought on your mind, and their name's on your lips when you wake up. When you two argue, you can't rest until it's fixed.

Falling in love is more like a drift than a fall, a slow descent that you're oblivious to until you gently set down, look around, and realize you've arrived at a whole different place...or so I would suspect.