Heartache is by far the most poignant part of love. Before you experience it, all the talk about feeling your heart ache or break sounds like just another cliche. But it’s not. The moment you realize that the person you are looking at has the most wonderful smile you’ve ever seen, when something clicks inside you, your heartbeat quickens. It’s truly connected.

My father sometimes says that the heart has more thinking cells—more brain cells, if you will—than muscle cells. If that is true, it explains a lot. For example, how my heart always knows when you are in the room, no matter where. How it glows and stretches to fill my chest when you smile at me. How right now, the thought of you loving someone else induces a throbbing ache that won’t go away, no matter how many times I tell myself I don’t need you, that you’re not the one.

My heart doesn’t believe it.