Was I too much? too emotional? too eager? Maybe I scared them away by showing how much I cared. If I'd stayed quiet, would they have stayed longer? If l'd been colder, would they have chased me instead? and the list of questions we often ask ourselves goes on, I think love isn't something you can earn by trying harder, or by being softer, or by always showing up first. You can't fight your way into someone's heart, no matter how much you care. If they want you there, they'll meet you halfway, no guessing, no chasing, no begging for scraps of attention. You can't keep proving your worth to someone who can't see it. I've learned that you can give your all, your time, your laughter, your late-night thoughts and still be met with silence. You can write them messages that go unread, hold on to promises they've already forgotten, and convince yourself they just need more time. But love doesn't live in confusion; it's not supposed to hurt like that. If someone pulls you close only to push you away, if they say they care but make you feel small, that's not love, it's you trying to hold together something that's already slipping apart. Real love doesn't make you guess. It feels calm, certain, steady. And I think sometimes the kindest thing you can do for yourself is to stop fighting for people who don't fight for you back and at some point, you stop trying to understand why they couldn't love you, and start understanding why you kept trying to make them.