1. Combined with physical intimacy, your intimate knowledge of who your partner is makes you feel closer to them than you’ve ever felt to another human.

2. You know more about your boyfriend or girlfriend than any other person on the planet, including your siblings and parents.

3. You’re both routinely baffled by how easily you can tell each other things you’ve never shared with another soul.

4. You’re not afraid to express even the most controversial or weird opinions in each other’s company, knowing that you won’t be judged by someone who truly loves you no matter what.

5. You both readily admit that you need each other as much as oxygen or water, and that you love being in what others might dismiss or deride as a co-dependent relationship. They don’t get it. Whatever.

6. You tell your boyfriend or girlfriend regularly that it’s impossible that they love you as much as you love them because you’re so often overwhelmed by the intensity of emotions you feel towards them. They promptly reassure you that they definitely do love you equally, or more.

7. Your relationship is a protective cocoon, in which you feel entirely yourself and entirely comfortable being yourself at all times.

8. Compared to the bond you’ve forged with your current partner, your past relationships seem ridiculously lacking. You can’t believe you even considered settling for anything less for the rest of your life.

9. You become genuinely frustrated when you don’t get enough alone time as a couple, and you can’t imagine being in a relationship in which the main goal isn’t to spend as much time together as possible.

10. As great as it is to go out with other couples and to celebrate holidays with family members, you always kind of secretly wish you could do everything just the two of you.

11. You annoy friends and family by declining so many suggested get-togethers in favor of doing things just the two of you. But it’s worth irking other people to protect the sanctity of your quality time as a duo.

12. Your former best friend feels somewhat slighted because they can sense they’ve been replaced, but they can’t really be that mad about it and they definitely can’t do anything to change the situation.

13. When you find yourselves getting into more spats than usual, the answer isn’t to go your separate ways, but to spend yet more time together. You bicker because you genuinely miss each other, that’s all.

14. There have been times when your partner totally guessed what you were thinking or feeling way before you even realized it. It’s like they have a direct wire into what’s going on in your heart and brain and you can’t imagine ever disconnecting the line.

15. You’re so confident that your love is real, you don’t feel pressured to explain it—to each other, or to anyone else who might ask.

16. The question “Why do you love him/her?” is moot. You just do. And that’s enough. Articulating all the exact reasons would take forever.

17. You don’t even need words to express that you love each other because you have eyes and you can tell each other so damn much just by looking at each other.