Have you ever been in love? Horrible, isn't
it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens your
heart and it means someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build
up all these defenses. You build up this whole armor, for years, so
nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any
other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life. You give them a
piece of you. They don't ask for it. They do something dumb one day like
kiss you, or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore.
Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you
crying in the darkness, so a simple phrase like 'Maybe we should just be
friends' or 'How very perceptive' turns into a glass splinter working
its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just
in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a body-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. Nothing should be able to do that. Especially not love. I hate love.
-Neil Gaiman