In the night, I am kept awake by the endless chatter of my inner self. I hear it speak softly of old hurts and fondly of past loves, while its demands and anxieties resound throughout me in multitudes.I could be calm and composed all day long, but the moment it is dark, my mind riots.

No, I do not want to be loved unconditionally. I want to be shown when I am treating you less than you deserve. I want you to leave if I ever start making you promises I do not see through. Love me for my flaws, yes, but don’t you dare ever allow them to hurt you.

Everyone you meet has a part to play in your story. And while some may take a chapter, others a paragraph, and most will be no more than scribbled notes in the margins, someday, you'll meet someone who will become so integral to your life, you'll put their name in the title.

But how can you love a person who is not whole? Because you, like the moon, are not only beautiful when full. In all of your phases and fractions and ivory-white pieces, I love you.

I learned much too late that what you called love was nothing but a desperate and irrational fear of a life lived alone.

It's been a long, hard road, but I've finally found the closure I need to move on. I've learned to accept that my all is not always going to be enough and love is neither owned nor earned; it either is or it's not. I gave you the world, but you wanted the stars.

Often, when we have a crush, when we lust for a person, we see only a small percentage of who they really are. The rest we make up for ourselves. Rather than listen, or learn, we smother them in who we imagine them to be, what we desire for ourselves. We create little fantasies of people and let them grow in our hearts. And this is where the relationship fails.

I think I keep telling myselfyou never loved me at allbecause it is far less terrifyinga prospect than the possibilityyou did, you really, trulydid, but all of a sudden, and forno particular reason,you woke up one day and stopped.

I never wanted a quiet, sensible sort of love. I wanted to be devoured.