"The Life We Would Have Led" by Sophia J.

    Vanessa's mom told her that Seth was probably the first man she ever truly loved, and Vanessa just started to cry, because she knew it was true. The thing about love is you don't know you had it until you've start to fall out of it. Seth wasn't the kind of boyfriend that drank too much or didn't pay the bills, he was sweet and gentle, and good to Vanessa's family. It wasnt Vanessa's fault either, she tried to keep the sparks flying but the passionate love died with them. The dates weren't filled with laughter, just uncomfortable silence and there was more chemistry between them and the bread than with each other. The nights were spent with backs to each other and the television still stuck on the news. It wasn't the cozy old couple type of relationship, they were 28 and 29, but they just couldn't fill up the space any longer.
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    Seth was a junior, 16, when he met Vanessa, a sophomore who was still 15. The conversation started out a bit hesitant, and the only reason  Seth sat at the bench Vanessa was at was because they were waiting for their group to show up, but they had never talked to each other before that. The talking was a good kind of awkward, though, and they clicked. One conversation led to hanging out before school and during lunch. A month later, Vanessa confessed that she had feelings and Seth reciprocated and they began a long period of adoration for each other surrounded by comfort and the word they hadn't said quite yet.
    Their first kiss was innocent yet intimate, cuddled up on the couch in Seth's mother's house, soaking each other in. The first few birthdays and anniversaries were genuine and filled with child-like excitement in celebrating their existences independently and together. The first time they said “I love you” was in her bed on Christmas, and they didn't wholly understand it yet, but they knew that they felt something overwhelming. Holidays began to fly by in blurs of love letters, candy, and kisses. Life was simple before things changed. Love was simple before it was lost.
    Once they went off to college, they started to make their own friends in their majors and social circles. They had their own agendas, but still put effort into date nights and remained interested in the interests of the other. Eventually, Seth began to settle into his career, as did Vanessa and they ran out of the time to organize date nights every weekend or find new things to talk about over dinner. Seth and Vanessa didn't notice this difference in the beginning, they were blissful but busy, and still gave each other attention when they had the time and the energy. The energy eventually died out and the time along with it. Seth started putting in overtime for the money that he insisted they needed and Vanessa stopped expecting him to sit down to dinner with her. Their relationship became monotonous, an unhappy routine of almost ignoring each other throughout the day.
    What used to be love, turned into a business partnership. Vanessa worked, Seth worked. She came home and ate dinner by herself then put his in the microwave before she went to bed. He came home late, ate his dinner, and only slept in the bed half of the time and when he did it was opposite where Vanessa was laying. Weekends were spent talking politics or jobs if anything, and were mostly spent out of the house or on the television so they didn't have to face the silence.
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    It was then, in her mom's car that she broke down, realizing how much she had loved Seth when they were much younger and how little she did now. Love was something she had forgotten in the hustle and bustle of her work and her life outside of her home. She had fallen out of love and it didn't truly hurt until she realized it.