Love is messy. It hurts and it breaks and it falls to pieces, taking everything crashing down with it. When it goes bad, it makes it seem like life isn't worth it anymore because nothing will ever feel the same again.
She has had her run of bad dates and boyfriends. Viktor, who was lovely but too old for her at the time. Cormac, who was too handsy and egotistical. Ron, who was sweet but utterly oblivious when it came to girls. Seamus, who was more of a misjudged oh-my-gosh-we-both-survived-the-war fling than anything else. Terry, who was her attempt at seeing whether maybe it was just Gryffindor boys who were the problem. (It wasn't.) Anthony, who broke her heart without even meaning to.
After everything she's been through, she's convinced that it will never get better. She decides that it must be her, not them, who is at fault. She accepts that she will never find someone to spend the rest of her life with.
But then she finds him. It's not love at first sight, but Regulus takes her breath away the moment they meet. He's charming and interesting and funny, and he's as enamoured with her as she is with him. They're swept up in a whirlwind of romance, and, before long, she's his and he's hers. Life is complicated, because love is still just as messy as ever, but the knowledge that this – them, each other – is worth it pulls them through. At the end of the day, it's simple, because they want to be together no matter what.
Love hurts and breaks and shatters when it's at its worst, but it heals and builds and fixes when it's at its best. In him, she finds the latter. With him, the past falls away. To him, she gives her heart, because she knows he'll always keep it safe.
A/N: Prompt: messy
A good friend of mine is going through a really tough time at the moment, so this is for her. Because yesterday and today and tomorrow feel like crap, but one day it won't. And because he's the one who wasn't worth it.
