I’m a closet romantic. The pet names “babe” and “baby” absolutely disgust me, I detest dumbed down baby talk, and my flirting skills are probably on par with that of the average middle schooler’s. But if you throw a rom-com up on Netflix or place me in front of a Nicholas Sparks novel, I’ll be completely engrossed within seconds.

I have been addicted to these romantic storylines ever since I was a preschooler, when Disney fairy tales first made their way into my life, gracing the screen of our boxy, 90s-esque, TV set. My parents would insert a video into the VCR player and from the moment they hit “play” I would be living vicariously through "Cinderella." By watching these films so often, I soon began thinking that someday, when I was older, my prince would pop out of the television screen and into my life. We would ride off together on our trusty steed, and we’d live, as all princes and princesses do, happily ever after.

This of course has not happened, nor will it ever happen, at least how 4-year-old me envisioned it. You see, what I, along with every other girl whose claimed they want a “fairy tale,” am guilty of, is cutting out the middle bits...and a fairytale can’t exist without its middle bits. The “middle bits” are the parts that happen before “happily ever after” is even an option. This is when Cinderella works as a maid, when Snow White eats a poisoned apple, when Belle is taken prisoner into a stranger's home, or when Aurora falls into an enchanted sleep. In the middle of a fairy tale things usually, if not always, seem to go horribly wrong. And in real life, no one wants to deal with hardships. I can assure you that if you asked the same girl who claimed she wanted her life to resemble that of a fairy tale if she would want her voice stolen by a sea witch, her answer would be a resounding “no.”

It is important to note too, that in their original, non-Disney state, many stories we consider to be fairy tales have just as awful endings as they do middles. In fact, in Hans Christian Anderson’s "The Little Mermaid," the title character doesn’t marry her prince. . . in fact he marries someone else, and our precious mermaid’s body dissolves into sea foam.

Maybe it’s these kind of facts that make Disney fairytales seem romantic in comparison, even with their not-so-pleasant middles. Yet the question remains, who would want a fairytale at all?

The fact is that you’re probably already living as closely to the plot of a fairy tale as you’re going to get. Because the truth of the matter is that life includes all of the elements that make up a good fairy tale. One of these elements, unfortunately, is suffering.

But life also includes fantasy: the aspect that makes fairy tales such a popular form of escapism for children everywhere. Life includes happy moments, too. I would be willing to bet anyone that they will find someone, if they haven’t yet, that looks at them the way Eric looks at Ariel.

The reason we romanticize fairy tales is because the fairy tales known widely today end only when things are going good. Thus, their audiences are left feeling happy and fulfilled. They present us with an unattainable ideal to fantasize over. Here in the real world, however, not one person is going to live happily every single moment after they kiss the love of their life for the first time, no matter how magical it is. Nor will they live happily every waking moment after their wedding day. In the real world, there is no turning point where struggles stop occurring and things go smoothly for the rest of one’s life. However, I would argue that real life is better than a fairy tale because of this. Because we don’t have this turning point where everything suddenly plains out into perfection, we can grow into better partners and better human beings. Our love doesn’t hit a peak. It holds the power to grow exponentially for the rest of our lives. And while there may not be “happily ever afters,” there are most certainly happy endings.