Tired and sappy so don't mind my sudden 500-word one-shot lol Anyway, much love to the lot of you!

Love was never meant to be perfect.

Yeah, you won't get that idea from the Hollywood films for those shitty teen shows on Netflix, but that's just not how it goes.

But with her? The kind of love we have here? This is what it's meant to be.

It's that gentle 'just checking in' kind of love. The kind where she'll always check up on me on my rough days and see if I ate. The one where if something exciting happened, we would tell each other first. That kind of love.

One where we say I love you before we say bye or goodnight. The kind where we kiss each other before the other even leaves the room. Where we'll notice what the other needs before they even ask for it. One that we'll agree to never go to bed upset with one another. One where we always take care of one another's tears and wipe them dry. One where we could always make the other smile or laugh after tears are shed.

She makes me smile like a fool when I see her in the room.

She holds me through my troublesome moments.

She rubs my shoulders after I bear the weight of the world.

This is the truest love. This is what it feels like to be completely and totally loved. To be enjoyed and adored even at your worst.

I smiled wide as I walked back into the living room. Claire, Toby, Douxie, and Zoe are all lounging around within the area with one another as a spot specifically left for me beside Claire.

And she taught me all of it.

I felt this giddiness within me as I joined the lot of them. Even though I never bothered to tune into their conversation. I simply slid into my place beside Claire as I draped my arm over her shoulders with ease.

Nothing is perfect, but this kind of love is the one I believe Shakespeare wrote about. I never understood his poems, but Claire loved them so. I would always try my best to get a feel for them. Always do my best to show interest in the things she loved the most. Even if I never understood them before.

I looked over toward Claire who looked over toward me right in time to show me one of her brilliant white smiles before turning her attention toward our friends once more.

Love makes you do a lot of things. Try and understand a lot of ideas. That's what makes love wonderful.

I leaned over quickly to place a kiss on her cheek before giving my attention to the rest of our friends.

And I have her to thank.