three words? or four?

do you love me,

or do you love me too?

because there is a difference

and i’m thinking maybe only i see it.

is i love you an afterthought

to you?

is it

the second thing you think when you look at me?

or the third?

or the fourth?

or the tenth?

because for me,

for me it is the first.

followed by a thousand and one variations of

you kill me and god your eyes and please kiss me sometime soon

but

i love you,

i love you always comes first.

when your eyes warm me without you ever touching me

i love you

when your words get mashed together on your tongue

i love you

when you laugh so hard you cannot breathe

i love you

when we say the same thing at the same time

i love you

when you get on my very last nerve

i love you.

because there is no one i would rather be annoyed by

you know that

there is no one i would rather ramble about life with

you know that

there is no one i would rather share these first memories with

you know that

there is no one i would rather be so terrified to lose

you must know that.

so

i’m sorry for asking

because i know i’m a lot

but i just wanted to know

do you love me,

or do you love me too?