How i wish you could see the potential

Have you ever been in love? Horrible, isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens up your chest and it opens up your heart, and ultimately.. it just means that someone can get inside of you and mess you up. You build up your defenses. You build up a whole suit of armor, just so nothing can hurt you. Then one person, one stupid person, no different from all the other stupid people.. wander into your stupid life and you give them a stupid piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They just did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't yours anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness. So simple a phrase like 'maybe we should just be friends' turns into a glass splinter working it's way into whatever's left of your so called heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination, not just in the mind. It's a soul hurt. A real gets-inside-of-you-and-rips-you-apart hurt. I hate love.