To the One I Still Love
Let’s not dance around the truth: here I am, standing in a world where my love for you exists quietly, unreciprocated but unwavering. They say, “If you admire a flower, just keep admiring it, because once you pluck it, it loses its life.” And maybe, in a way, that’s what love is. It’s not about possessing, it’s about appreciating — even if it means from a distance. Maybe that’s how I’ve learned to love you, by letting you go, even if it feels like I’m losing something precious.
They tell you that love is free, but what they don’t tell you is how much it can cost. It’s not measured in money, but in sleepless nights, in the tears that you don’t allow anyone to see, in the aching loneliness when you realize that all the love you’re pouring out may never come back to you. But, who cares? “No pain, no gain,” right? Love, at its deepest, is about sacrifice. And I’ve been willing — still am willing — to take the fall for you, to catch every grenade life throws your way, even if I’m left broken on the other side. That’s what love does to you. It makes you foolish, makes you believe in the hope of it all, even when you know the consequences could shatter you.
It’s a choice, this one-sided love. I made that choice because loving you gave me strength when everything else felt heavy. It got me through the days when getting out of bed seemed impossible, and it gave me peace on nights when I was drowning in my thoughts. Loving you, even from a distance, has been my anchor, my source of light. It’s a folly, I know, but it’s my folly — and I embrace it.
But here’s the thing we don’t say out loud, not often enough anyway: we all want to be loved. We crave it. We need to feel that there’s someone, somewhere, who sees us for all we are and loves us anyway. And it’s comforting, isn’t it, to think that someone out there might be willing to risk everything for you? Someone who would walk through fire and face their deepest fears just to be with you. That kind of love — it’s rare. It’s precious.
I’ve felt that for you. And maybe, just maybe, you’ve felt it for me too. Or maybe I’m just a fool, hoping for something that was never meant to be. But even in my quiet, unspoken love, I still hold onto that sliver of hope. I hope that one day, you find yourself back to me. That the love I’ve held in my heart for you, unwavering and patient, might bring you back to where we both belong.
It’s not easy to love someone silently. It’s not easy to choose to love from afar. But sometimes, that’s all we can do — admire, cherish, and let go. Like a flower you can’t bring yourself to pick, because you know that in doing so, you would destroy the very thing you love. So, I’ll keep admiring you from here, loving you from this distance, and hoping that someday, somehow, our paths will cross again. And when they do, I’ll still be here, waiting, with the same love in my heart.
Please remember this: love is always a choice. A choice to hold on. A choice to let go. And a choice to love someone quietly, without needing anything in return. That’s the kind of love I’ve found in my heart for you.
With all my heart,
The one who still waits.
