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Chapter 72 - How love burns

We talk about love like it's easy—

like breath,

like morning light.

I love coffee,

I love these flowers,

we say,

as if the phrase weighs nothing.

But when it's aimed at a heart,

it trembles—

and suddenly,

so do we.

We say I love you

without knowing the cost.

Because no one loves

the way you do.

We carry love etched in childhood—

soft maps of how to hold and flee.

Yes, someone may come close,

but they will never

be your way of loving.

Love takes forms the ancients never named—

in silence, in fur, in roots and sky.

We shape it

to fit what we need it to be.

And yes,

I see the beauty.

But I also see

the ache.

Because real love

asks for sacrifice.

Sometimes,

they pack a suitcase in silence—

leave a note on the fridge—

not because they've stopped loving you,

but because they love you

too much

to stay.

And we say:

Stay. Let them love you. Let them help.

But sometimes

staying

is the very thing

that would break them too.

If love is real,

they say,

it will return.

Maybe not in arms,

but in memory,

in peace,

in growth.

Love is not just

shared playlists,

quiet coffees,

or laughter in soft light.

It's the shadows, too.

The long silences.

The sharp edges.

To love someone

is to love their flaws—

but never at the cost

of yourself.

Because love without boundaries

is fire

without form.

And love without words

becomes silence

too loud to bear.

You can love,

be loved,

and still watch it fall apart—

and that's what makes love so cruel:

how it burns so brightly

yet leaves you reaching in the dark.

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