It is exhausting to keep explaining what you need to someone who keeps hearing it as criticism. You start to second-guess your own feelings because they look at you like you're asking for too much, when you're only asking for something real. You can care about someone deeply and still feel unseen by them. And the most confusing part is that they are not always unkind-they are simply absent in the places that matter most. You hold onto the version of them that shows up once in a while, the one who speaks softly when they want to, the one who makes you believe the connection is finally growing. But consistency is what love looks like when it's mature, and effort is what commitment looks like when it's honest. You cannot keep building a relationship out of their potential while you're slowly losing yourself in the process. And eventually you learn this truth the hard way: being able to love someone is not the same as being able to be loved by them in return.