He told me he loves me. That he wasn’t expecting that in return.. Just to know that he’ll always be rooting for me.

My response? Thank you.

You would think after 4 years with someone I’d be able to give a more comprehensive reply, but instead I just found myself thinking back on our relationship wondering whether I was ever really in love with him.

I was.. at one point.

But if I was truly in love, why was it so easy for me to up and leave? We weren’t arguing. We spent time together. Everything seemed so perfect for once.

The problem was my heart wasn’t in it anymore. I wasn’t unhappy, but I wasn’t all that happy either. I realized I was with him because it was the safest thing for me to do. Our relationship was dead in the middle of my comfort zone. I ran back to it and him because I didn’t know anything else.

That wasn’t fair to either one of us, so I left..

Did I fall out of love? I wouldn’t say it like that. It’s not like I woke up one day and said, “OK. I don’t love you anymore. Bye.” It’s more like.. I didn’t bother trying to keep my love for him alive. We both neglected to do anything to help our relationship grow and as you can see he and I are no longer “we”.

See, you have to put in work in order for a relationship to work. You can’t just hope that love will keep the two of you together. Relationships and love need to be tended to in order to flourish. Without that care, they will slowly, but surely, die.

And that’s what happened. A love neglected, a relationship overlooked.. It left me with an ill feeling inside. This person I was once able to pour my heart out to..

And now.. all I could say was, “Thank you.”