This Is What Someone With Standards Expects From Her Boyfriend

She doesn’t expect you to answer every text five seconds after it sends. She understands that you have work, that you have friends, that you have a life outside of her. She knows that you can’t always drop everything to talk to her, even if she is the most important person in your life.

But she does expect you to answer her as soon as you have the time. She expects you to check your phone during your lunch break to let her know that you miss her, and to call her when you’re going to be late so that she’s not wondering what happened and whether you’re alive.

She doesn’t expect you to hold her waist every time you step out of the house, to make out with her in the middle of a public place so that everyone knows she’s yours. She doesn’t need you to have your hands all over her so that other boys back away, so that they realize that you’re taken.

But she does expect you to introduce her as your girlfriend. She expects kisses before she goes to bed and I love yous before she leaves for work. She doesn’t need you to scream her name from the rooftops, but she needs you to show her daily affection, to remind her that you care.

She doesn’t expect you to cancel plans with your friends in order to see her or bail on your family during holidays in order to spend time with her family. She doesn’t want you to abandon your loved ones, as if you can only have one person in your life at a time.

But she does expect you to be there when it matters. She needs to be able to rely on you, to know that you’ll show up if her car breaks down or if she breaks down crying. She needs to know that she can count on you.

She doesn’t expect you to pay for every movie, for every dinner, for every ice cream cone. She doesn’t care if you reach for your wallet to impress her, if you fight her on whether or not she should pay the bill on her own — because she wants to be equals. She wants to pay as often as you.

But she does expect you to buy her little things, cheap things, things that prove you’ve been paying attention. She wants birthday gifts that she’ll keep on her shelves forever, presents that come straight from the heart.

She doesn’t expect you to let her win every argument. To tell her that she’s right, even when she’s wrong. To let her get away with murder to avoid a fight.

But she does expect you to listen to her side of the argument. To try to see where she’s coming from instead of exploding at her before you hear her side of the story. She wants to have a healthy relationship, the kind that will actually last.

She doesn’t expect you to be the main source of her happiness, to turn your whole life into a mission to please her.

But she does expect you to put in effort, she expects you to give as much as she does.