We all want to be liked
To have people see
The version of ourselves
We choose to be
And say, yeah
That's someone I admire
I aspire to be like
We all want someone
To look back on
The snapshots we've accrued
Over years of holidays,
***** nights,
And picture perfect food
And say, look
Here's someone who's got things sussed
We all want someone
To validate our lives
To comment that we're doing just fine
You're great
You're pretty
Your smart
Well, I guess that's a good start

We all want someone
To click that **** thumb
And validate the effort
Of keeping the mask on

In another parallel universe we are still in love
We are holding hands in our house where every room is painted a different color because that is what I always wanted
We are sitting on our couch as you play guitar and our Labrador Retrievers run around at our feet
In this parallel universe we never went separate ways
We are constantly building each other up and drinking iced coffees at 7 AM while Jack Johnson plays softly in the background
We are lying together in our bed on a Saturday night after work and laughing so hard that we cannot breathe
We are sipping IPAs in our pajamas all throughout a lazy Sunday afternoon without a care in the world
We are brushing our teeth together in the morning and thinking how could it get any better than this?
In another parallel universe you would still be my soulmate and we could still be in love