I've heard people say that love is the worst thing that ever happened to them. I can see where that may be true. Loving someone means you open yourself up to another human being. They could hurt you more than anyone else. But it's not always bad.

When I was younger, I thought I'd never get that. I'm different. I laugh at everything, even when I'm nervous. I constantly underestimate myself in everything I do. I can have 16 different conversations at once, and I can sing every song I've ever heard from memory.

Someone like me doesn't get lucky. I wasn't hopeful.

But I got lucky.

Maybe you fall in love with your best friend you rode the bus with every day for four years in a row.

You'll see them and just about have a heart attack. The butterflies you hear about aren't just normal butterflies. Yours have machine guns and hand grenades. You can't help but smile when you see them.

You'll want to fall asleep on their chest and never wake up, even though they shake you and tell you that you should go home and sleep in your own bed. You'll want to hug them even though they're walking around the kitchen trying to make you both ramen noodles because you really don't have enough money to eat at a nice restaurant. You'll want to squeeze them tight every time they go to work, even though it's only a few hours.

Sometimes you'll see them cry, even though you thought that wasn't possible.

You'll love their clothes more than your own. You'll want to take pictures of them as soon as they wake up from their nap, because they just look so cute with bed head and droopy eyes. You'll laugh so hard you snort when they make the dumbest face you've ever seen. They'll make fun of you and you'll pout, but they know you love it regardless of what you say.

They'll be there even when no one else is. They're there at two in the morning when you call them crying over something stupid, and when you say you don't want ice cream they'll get you some anyway. They'll make you dance around in the kitchen and talk to you while you spend half an hour on your makeup.

You may be opposites with some things. You're messy. They're organized. You're loud and they're quiet. You're always wide awake and they're always ready to fall asleep. You're anxious. They're calm. They could be everything you didn't know you needed.

You'll disagree, there's no doubt about it. You might yell, you might want to be alone. You won't want to say sorry, you'll want to be right every time you argue.

That's definitely not how it works.

Love is complicated, but no one said it would be easy.

People are like puzzles. Sometimes you have to move things around to figure them out. Ask a question to open a door to a whole new part of them you didn't even know existed. You'll find their hopes, their dreams, their fears. All the things others can't seem to see.

Alone you're kind of a mess. Admit it. With them you're still a mess, but a happy one. A very happy mess with a very organized better half.