"Have you even been in love? Horrible, isn't it?
It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest
and it opens your heart and it means someone can
get inside you and mess you up. You build up all
these defenses. You build up this whole armor,
for years, so nothing can hurt you, then one
stupid person, no different from any other
stupid person, wanders into your stupid
life...You give them a piece of you. They don't
ask for it. They do something dumb one day like
kiss you, or smile at you, and then your life
isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It
gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you
crying in the darkness, so a simple phrase
like "maybe we should just be friends" or "how
very perceptive" turns into a glass splinter
working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not
just in the imagination. Not just in the mind.
It's a soul-hurt, a body-hurt, a real gets-
inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love."