Love will always be a game.

I <3.

I swore I'd never fall again. That it won't catch me off guard ever again, that I'll constantly be in control. I'd keep my head held high and fend off anyone trying to reach in.

Why?

It's just easier, I guess. The moment you start having feelings for someone, everything just shifts uncontrollably and in order to regain control, a lot of collateral damage occurs. It's the kind of damage you can't avoid and when it happens, you don't even realise it. Takes a while to figure out exactly what went wrong and when, and even if you do... Nothing ever changes past events. Time doesn't rewind. Ever.

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I <3. It's always the little things. The way you lightly touch my skin, or when you reach for me at five in the morning. To say my insides flutter with an overflow of feelings would be too much of a mushy cliche. But it does. And I can't stop it, no matter how much I try.

I've fallen. I can't get away from this, you draw me into your atmosphere worse than gravity and it would be useless to try and push it away. I try to be guarded, but when it comes to you and <3, I think you had me at hello. Is that too silly? Do you even remember the first hello? A drunken haze surrounds our first moments together and it's hard to tell if you ever knew. Sometimes I wonder if you'll ever know. Or if I'll be brave enough to say it out loud.

Yes, it scares me. It's insecurity, you'll say. But I know it's not. It plays off as being an insecure little child, but it's actually an alarm bell that failed to ring one too many times. And we all know what happens when you forget to wake up...

It's okay. They say I'm strong. Will I still be strong if you destroy me? If you rip my heart out and chuck it away... Take what you need or want, as I won't stop you. Make me cry until I see red. Cut me open and see I'm real. Give a little and get a lot. Just as long as you <3.

I do. I <3. Berry much.