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Dear Love,
Valentine's day is this weekend. It has me thinking of you.
You're everywhere I look, after all. Shop displays are overflowing with red and pink and white, heart shaped paper and bits of lace. Candy and cards and sweet-smelling flowers.
I've always had a fondness for you. Warm colors and hearts and candy, chocolate and hard sugar that slowly melts into syrup in your mouth. I've spent a lot of time doodling love hearts with no names in them, filling pages of notebooks with my adoration for you.
...
I waited, you know.
For years, I waited for you to lead me to someone else. Someone who could love me back.
I was patient. I never pushed, I never tried to force it, but I kept waiting for it to happen. Everyone told me it would, one day. One day, I'd grow up, and you'd lead me to the person meant for me.
And then I was about to graduate high school (a year late no less), and I realized that I had been patient, and you never led me to anything at all.
In the same breath, I realized that I didn't mind. I don't need someone to kiss me, to hold me. I don't need someone to spend the rest of my life with.
I only need you, Love. You can't kiss me. You can't hold me.
But you sure as Hell are gonna spend the rest of my life with me.
You're there, everywhere I look. You're there in the way Mom says, "That outfit looks very cute on you." You're there in the way Dad says, "Would you like to hang out with me, and play some Baldur's Gate?" You're there in the way Alex says, "I wanna show you something I drew."
You're there in "I should be free Monday," and "Did you see the new trailer for that movie?" and "This drawing is amazing!" and "Are you free this weekend?" and "That sounds hard, I'm sorry," and "Good morning," and "Good night."
Everywhere I look, I see you. I am surrounded by you.
Once this weekend is over, the stores will take down their displays. Candies will still be sold, but in different packaging. The flower section of the grocery will focus less on roses.
But you'll still be there.
I suppose in some way, you've been leading me to people the whole time. Not in the way I was told to expect, but in the way I needed.
Sincerely,
Grey
This piece was written for a class. The prompt was to "write 1-2 pages about your identity(ies)". I chose aromanticism, since that weekened was Valentine's Day.