When you love someone, you don’t treat strangers better than them. You don’t save the worst sides of yourself for private because you feel like your person isn’t going to leave you, no matter what tone you use with them, no matter how nasty you get, no matter how much pain you put them through.

When you love someone, you don’t let a little bit of stress change the way you treat them. You don’t come home and act snippy after you’ve had a rough day at work. You don’t take out all of your anger and frustration on them when you’re actually mad at your boss or your parents or yourself.

When you love someone, you don’t treat them like a punching bag. You don’t act like it’s their fault you’ve been stressed when they’re the only part of your day that is calming, relaxing, reassuring.

And if your partner has been the one causing you stress, you should sit down with them and have a mature conversation about what’s been bothering you. You should let them in on your feelings instead of letting those feelings explode out of you at the worst possible moment.

When you love someone, you don’t take advantage of the fact they’re going to be there for you, even when you’re in a sour mood. You don’t scream at them because you know they aren’t going to say anything back to you. You don’t carelessly hurt their feelings because you know they’ll still be there in the morning when you’re ready to apologize.

When you love someone, you don’t lose your temper with them on a daily basis. You don’t curse at them. You don’t scream at them. You don’t bang cabinets and doors to make a point around them. You don’t try to blame them for everything that is going wrong in your life. You don’t act like they deserve to be treated like dirt, simply because you’ve spent the whole day feeling like dirt.

When you love someone, you don’t treat them like an enemy, like another person who is going to screw you over. You should treat them like a teammate. When they’re stressed about something, you should help them get through the pain — and when you’re stressed about something, you open up to them with the expectation they will do the same.

You have to remember, being there for each other doesn’t mean using each other as a punching bag. Being yourselves around each other doesn’t mean being your worst selves around each other. Expressing your emotions to each other doesn’t mean letting those emotions take total control of you.

When you love someone, you don’t treat them like a punching bag. You don’t take out all of your issues on them because they’re the only one who will listen to you vent, who will reassure you everything is okay, who will let you get away with acting out. You don’t disrespect the one person who would never hurt you, the one person who wants what’s best for you.