love is finding someone to be in the kitchen with. there are many places where love can happen, bars. beds. long walks where everyone is still trying to look like themselves. places built for entrances. places with exits already planned. places where you can leave before you are seen staying. the kitchen is different. this is where time loses its manners. your hair is doing whatever it wants. the sink has a mood. the counter remembers yesterday. this is not where you bring a crush. this is where you bring a life. you reach for a glass and someone else is already holding it. there is no line to quote later. just the shared math of two people moving around each other. shoulders learning distance. hands learning heat. people talk about love like it is a feeling you ride. but feelings are unreliable animals. love is closer to muscle memory. it is the absence of fear when nothing is being offered. in the kitchen, you are not interesting. you are useful, you are tired and you are human in a way that cannot be edited.