Love is letting someone in. Letting them into places that no one else has been. Into places they could abandon without a second though. Love is trusting them not to.

I trusted once. I loved once. I was in love once.
But never again. Never.

I've been left. And I've been hurt. Yet I'm expected to pick the pieces up off the ground and just move on. "Everyone gets hurt," they say. We are supposed to wear our hearts on our sleeves and be vulnerable. We are supposed to be open to love.

I can't be open any more. I am breaking. I am broken.
There aren't pieces left to pick up.
I can't be open any more.
And no one understands.

With every hurt and every vulnerable moment I retreat. I've retreated to a dark place where love isn't welcome. Its a place for me and me alone. Alone and lonely. Two different things, that only some will understand.