How do you know if someone loves you? Well — with them, it won’t be some race for who can seem to care less. The silence of your phone will no longer torment you with questions of what you did wrong. It will be easy, and they will give you their time, and you will never be confused in how they feel. You will wonder why you spent so many years chasing after people who only gave you parts of love, little fractions and pieces of it, when there are people in the world who are ready to let you have it all. You will know they love you when you are lying in bed and go to get up to start your day,and they pull you in closer to them. “Don’t go,” they will tell you, “let’s just stay here together.” You will bore your friends with all the stories of how great they are, just like you always do, but this time there won’t be a sad undercurrent of “trying to win them over.” These will be stories of afternoons spent at the park, and the flowers they brought you, and the texts they send you in the morning. Everything will finally be in the open. You don’t have to worry if they’ll like your friends, because you know they will. You don’t have to avoid the subject of your family, because they hope to meet them someday. Everything will be honest, and you won’t worry that the inconvenience of your real life will get between the very precarious thing you have together. They will want to be a part of it, meet every bit of it, because all of it is an extension of you. They will remember your special days, and be excited to see you, and want to touch every bit of you a dozen times before you go to sleep. You won’t be afraid to wake up looking messy and pale, because they filter you through the same lens that you give to them. Even going to the grocery store will be a thrilling adventure. With them, you will have the privilege of seeing yourself the way they see you, and understanding that in every way you think that they are wonderful, they feel the same. No guessing, no insecurity. Just inspiration, passion. Just warmth. That, is how you know if someone loves you. Words: @faganchelsea Photo: @beyourself.ph