Holly Riordan

They don’t need you. They’ve learned to live without love. So if they choose to be with you, it’s because they’re serious about you. Because they believe you’re worth all the risks.

When I ignore your texts or tell you I’m too busy to hang out, I don’t feel guilty, like I’m hurting someone I love. I feel like I’m doing you a favor. Like I’m saving you from the horrors of having to be my friend.

You didn’t grow up seeing your parents plant kisses on each other and say, “I love you” before leaving the house. Affection is foreign to you. That’s why you’re so uncomfortable with PDA.

Does he actually care?

You post hot Instagram pictures in the hopes that he’ll see them. And if you think you’re going to run into him, you put a little extra effort into your appearance. You tell yourself that you’re trying to make him jealous, show him what he’s missing. But really, you’re hoping he decides he wants you back.

Settling is waking up next to someone, just because you can’t stand falling asleep alone. Settling is texting them about your big news, because you don’t have anyone else to talk to.

When she tells you about her tattoo, she’s giving you a piece of herself. She’s exposing her soul. She’s cracking open her heart.

You can text him first. You can kiss him first. It’s not desperate. It’s brave.

She’s strong, because she shows up, even when she’s shaking. She speaks, even when it’s with a cracked voice. She keeps breathing, even when those breaths are shaky.

“For as long as I can remember, I saw what I described as ‘a girl that was pink and see through.’ I always called her Pam. It’s been 10 years since I lived in that house and I still remember her vividly.”

He admits that he misses you — and he acts on it. He clears his schedule so he can spend as much time with you as possible.

When someone tells her that she looks pretty, she shakes her head. Laughs. Changes the conversation.

Virgo: Comfort. You want someone that you can be yourself around. Someone that makes you feel attractive, even when you’re wearing sweatpants and pimple cream.

She’s a cynic. A skeptic. But she wasn’t always that way. She used to be a romantic. She used to daydream about finding her forever person and kissing him at the end of the aisle.

She knows how smart she is. She knows how talented she is. She has high standards in every area of her life.

I’m not a good conversationalist — and it makes me seem like a shitty friend.

She wants to use you as her pillow. Rest her head on your chest. Drape her legs across your torso. Interlock her fingers with yours.

She loves waking up to your texts, but she would rather wake up to your kisses.