Chloë Grace Imagines

Love Is

I just started thinking, so I wrote this in first person.

I've always had the idea that love has to be painful. I don't know if it's from the romanticized idea of things like Romeo and Juliet or various songs about enduring pain for the one you love.
All the love I've ever had was painful. But real love doesn't have to be painful. Real love doesn't hurt. If it does, there's something wrong with that love. Love should be healing. Love should be happiness. Love should be feeling like you're where you're supposed to be in that moment.
Thinking you would take any pain to be with someone is a romantic thought. But that's not how it should be. It should be natural. It shouldn't be painful because of the person. They should take your pain away. If they hurt you, there's something wrong there.
Love might be filled with sacrifices for the other person, but unless those sacrifices ultimately lead to happiness for you both, there's no real point. If sacrifices are made just for the sake of sacrifices, that's not real love. That's just infatuation and obsession. It's unhealthy. You can be obsessed with someone and still be in love, but infatuation and true love are mutually exclusive. Love is simply not that simple.
The only reason I realized that was because of how people treated me before and then how she treats me.
The first moment we spoke, I fell for her. I didn't want to fall for her; I had no idea if she liked girls. But I fell for her regardless.
"Hey," she said, her green eyes bright as they looked into mine.
"Hey," I replied, my heart starting to beat faster. I'd never spoken with someone so breathtakingly gorgeous. From her voice to the way her blonde hair fell in waves down her shoulders, everything about her was pure beauty. I fell quickly, and she caught me. We fell in love the way you find a new passion in life. You find out about it. You start to get interested. You start to get more and more interested until you're simply obsessed with it. And that's how we fell for each other. As time passed, we grew closer and closer until we were practically attached at the hip. We picked up each other's mannerisms and started talking like each other. We got to the point that we call each other dumbass and it didn't matter because we knew we love each other.
I don't deserve her; I know I don't. I don't know what I did in my life to deserve someone as amazing as her, but it's incredible. She changed how I view love. Her love is pure, real, and unconditional. That should be what love always is.
As we lie in our bed together, I look into her eyes and wonder how I got so lucky.
"What are you thinking about?" she asks softly.
"You," I reply. "As always."
She smiles slightly, making my heart beat faster. Her smile is the most beautiful thing in the world, and I wish I could capture the feeling she gives me and trap it in a bottle to keep forever.
"That's interesting because I'm always thinking of you, too," she responds, reaching forward to touch my face lightly. She moves closer until her lips brush mine. I can never get enough of the feeling of her lips on mine. She's soft, sweet, and utterly perfect.
I smile against her lips as I move my hand into her hair. Her blonde locks are soft under my fingertips.
"I love you," she mumbles, making my heart beat even faster. She's said it before, but every time she says it, I feel giddy and euphoric.
"I love you," I reply, and she smiles.
This is what real love is. Love isn't pain. Love isn't all blind sacrifice. Hell, love isn't blind. Love is healing. Love is happiness. Love is her.

A/N
I literally used to think that love was pain
Like...sure, some love is pain
Maybe your mother is sick; maybe your family gives you grief for something
But in the end, romantic love between two people shouldn't be pain. There might be pain, of course. But it shouldn't be defined by painful experiences over and over
And I wouldn't have realized that if it weren't for this one person
So I'm really grateful.