Moments in Antiquity

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest & it opens up your heart & it means that someone can get inside you & mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life… You give them a piece of you. They didn’t ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you or grab your hand, & then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out & leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like “maybe we should be just friends” or “I just want you to be happy” turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It’s a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.

—– Neil Gaiman. (via kotis)

(Source: reneeniz, via kotis)