So… You’ve been looking at your phone all day, rereading that message where they said they “cared.”
Your thumb hovers over those words, as if staring at them long enough might somehow change their meaning.
But deep down, you already know the truth.
They don’t love you.Â
They never will.Â
And it’s time you faced it.
That “cared” message meant exactly what it said.Â
They care.
Like they care about an old friend, a distant relative, maybe even a stray cat they fed once.
It’s comfortable, it’s easy, it requires nothing deep, nothing challenging.Â
It’s the opposite of love.
Love is messy, demanding, all-consuming.Â
Caring is polite. Caring is distant.
Caring is what you offer when you want to keep someone sweet, just in case, or because you feel a pang of guilt for not feeling more.
Those “good morning” texts?
They’re sent between scrolling through social media and brushing their teeth.Â
Simply an afterthought.
When they say they miss you, it’s the comfortable kind of missing.Â
The kind that doesn’t ache or burn or keep them up at night.Â
Not like it does for you.
You’ve memorized their schedule. You know when they’re busy, when they’re free.
You plan your day around the possibility of seeing them, while they squeeze you into the cracks of their life.
Those last-minute plans when their first choice fell through.
Those late-night calls when they’re bored and lonely.Â
But never during the day when someone better might see them with you.
Remember how they introduced you to their friends?Â
“This is my friend.” Just a friend. Always just a friend.
And you smiled through it, didn’t you? Pretended it didn’t cut you to the bone.
Meanwhile, you’ve told everyone about them, built them up in your mind until they’re practically perfect.
But they’re not perfect.Â
They’re just a person who knows exactly how much hope to feed you to keep you hanging on.
Let’s talk about that hope.Â
That stupid, stubborn hope.
“Maybe they’re just scared of commitment.”
“Maybe they don’t realize how they feel yet.”
“Maybe if I’m patient enough, loving enough, perfect enough, blah blah bla…”
There is no “enough.” There never will be.
Because the brutal truth is: when someone truly wants you, you know it.
There’s no confusion, no analyzing text messages for hidden meanings, no lying awake wondering where you stand.
Love isn’t a detective case to solve.
They’ve shown you a hundred times who they are and what they want.Â
The canceled plans.Â
The hours or days of silence.
The way their eyes scan the room even when they’re with you, always looking for someone more interesting.
The shallow conversations that never touch anything real.
And it hurts, doesn’t it?
It hurts because you’ve built a future with them in your head.Â
You’ve imagined holidays together, meeting families, inside jokes, and quiet mornings.
But they haven’t imagined any of that with you.Â
In their story, you’re just a chapter, maybe even just a footnote.Â
While in yours, they’re the whole damn book.
The most painful part? You probably knew all this already.
Some part of you has always known.
That’s why your chest tightens when your phone lights up with their name, not just from excitement but from fear.
Because each interaction is another spin on a wheel that lands on disappointment more often than not.
You deserve someone who chooses you actively, consistently, enthusiastically.
Not someone who makes you feel like loving you is a chore or an obligation.
Not someone who makes you feel lucky for the scraps of their attention.
Stop waiting for them to change.Â
Stop thinking that if you just love them harder, better, differently, they’ll suddenly see what’s been in front of them all along.
They see you. They’ve always seen you.Â
And they’ve decided, repeatedly, that you’re not what they want.
They. Will. Never. Love. You.
Let that sink in. Let it hurt. Let the tears come if they need to.
Because accepting this devastating truth is the only way the ache might, eventually, someday, begin to fade.
And the sooner you accept it, the sooner you can begin to heal.Â
The sooner you can make room in your heart for someone who won’t need convincing to love you.
You are worth more than this half-assed love.Â
This “almost” love.Â
This “maybe someday” love that never quite arrives.
So put down your phone.Â
Stop reading that message.Â
Stop searching for meaning that isn’t there.
They will never love you the way you deserve to be loved.
 It’s a door that will remain locked, no matter how hard you knock.
And it’s time you loved yourself enough to walk away.