Neil Gaiman

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes
you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up
your heart and it means that someone can get inside
you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses,
you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing
can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different
from any other stupid person, wanders into your
stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't
ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss
you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own
anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats
you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so
simple a phrase like 'maybe we should just be friends'
turns into a glass splinter working its way into your
heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in
the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-
rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.