what is love?


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“I think I might love you."
“I think that’s a stupid thing to say, why would you say something like that?”

“Because when you look at me my toes curl and my stomach flutters.”

“Is that a quote from a book?”

“No. I don’t think so. I don’t know. It all gets a little mixed up sometimes.”

“So you love me like they love in books.”

“Question or statement?”

“Your choice.”

“Question, then. And, yes. I love you like Scarlett loves Rhett, like Elizabeth loves Mr. Darcy, like-”

“Stop, just stop. Don’t love me like that. What happens after the last page?”

“We continue on loving like happily-ever-forever.”

“No, we’d drop off, we'd end. Love isn’t static, it doesn’t continue in a flat line. Who can carry the same tune for years? We rise, we fall, we bump arms and step on each other’s toes. I’ll annoy you because I can’t stand going to Christmas parties and you’ll piss me off because you take an hour to get ready to go grocery shopping. We aren’t a book.”

“So how would you like me to love you then?”

“I don’t. Didn’t I just say I’ll annoy you? You shouldn’t love me, it’s a poor life choice.”

“What if I said it was too late?

“I’d say that’s a shame. But I’d also say that if you have to love me, love me like the moon. Love me when I’m cursing at the GPS because it took me to the-middle-of-nowhere when I clearly said to take me to California. Love me when I’m sitting in wrinkled jeans and a stained shirt that I Febreezed and called clean. Love me when I forgot what you said, forgot your birthday and remembered the stats of the last game. Love me when I wax, love me when I wane. Love me then.”

“Alright. And what about me? How will you love me?”

“I’ll love you like the tides. I’ll love you when you’re sitting in the middle of a million shoes complaining that none will work. I’ll love you when you forget to check the oil, forgot to fill the gas tank, forgot to roll up the windows when you parked. I’ll love you when you burn dinner, when you won’t get off the phone, when you cry at a movie you’ve seen twenty times before. I’ll love you during the low tides, during the high. I’ll love you then”

“And during which will you remember that love is a fool’s choice?”

“Oh, I’ll always remember. But I’m a fool. Remember?”