Love. A four-letter word we’ve been hearing and been taught since we were born. There are many different interpretations of it. It is one of the most discussed emotions because there are so many variables and experiences with it. Love is something that is felt differently by different people, in different situations, and at different ages.

One of the first examples of love that we feel is the love for our parents and family members. Then, perhaps a family pet or best friend. Then, we get older and we’re watching Disney movies, and we see how the prince and princess are in love, that becomes one of our huge examples of romantic love.

It gets ingrained into our mind that we must have a love like that or else it isn’t ‘real love.’ Our prince charming must be willing to fight off dragons and evil queens before we run off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

We get our first crush and then it seems like we know what love is. It's him walking us to class or sharing their lunch with us. It’s the butterflies in our stomach when we watch him laughing with his friends in the hallways. This is probably one of the simplest forms of love--innocent and pure.

Then we get older and we have our first heartbreak. We realize that just because we’re dating, doesn’t mean that it's love. It doesn’t mean it’ll last forever. We realize that people are stupid and make mistakes. We think back to that Disney type of love and we start to see that real love isn’t always like that. But we still hold out hope, thinking that maybe our prince charming is still out there. That maybe he’s just fighting some dragons or evil monsters.

Then we meet him. Maybe he’s the quarterback of the football team or the captain of the chess team or maybe he’s just an ordinary boy. And we think, “This is it. This is what real love is.” And we truly have our first love. When you look back on it when you’re older, you’ll shake your head and think about how naive you were.

But at the time, you just knew that he was the one. You knew he was your forever, that he was your prince charming. You know he’s the one, so you give him parts of you, piece by piece until you realize you might have given him too much…But that’s okay.

He’s your forever. It’s okay that he snaps at you all the time. It’s okay that he tells you that you can’t go out with your friends to that movie. Because he loves you. Right?

One day you see or hear something that makes you look at things differently. Maybe it’s something your mom says or maybe your friends finally told you everything that he’s doing is wrong and that you are worth so much more.

So, you look at your relationship and your love. Maybe love just isn’t what you were thinking it would be. Maybe it’s just more complicated than you thought it was. So, you keep trying with the relationship in the hopes that things will change, that as you both get older you’ll do better. But things continue to be the same, and you’re left heartbroken and alone.

You start thinking that maybe some time alone will help you, give you time to focus on yourself. So, you live your life and just go day-to-day trying to not let yourself feel lonely. Love hasn’t been kind to you so why would you keep searching for it?

Then, he comes in. He treats you so differently than all the others that you think it must be a game. He must be in it to sleep with you, just some conquest that he can brag to his friends about. He opens doors for you but still allows you to be independent. He pays for dinner, but it’s not something he does out of obligation or power trip. It’s because he genuinely cares for you and wants to take care of you. He wants to treat you like a queen, because to him, you are.

All the failed relationships. All the bad dates. All the heartbreak becomes worth it. Because without that you wouldn’t have known just how special he was. How to tell the difference between a boy and a man. You wouldn’t have been able to know just how real he was being with you.

So, yes. Love is so different from what you thought it would be. It’s messy, complex, and takes a lot of hard work. And yes, he wasn’t out there fighting dragons or evil queens to come to you. But he was fighting his own battles, just as you were, and they shaped and formed him into that man that you come to love.

And yes, he has scars and wound that will need to be mended, just as yours will, but that’s okay. Just make sure to love and care for him just as he will you. Because love takes effort, but it is so worth it.