The Pain of Unrequited Love: A Letter to the Girl Who Never Knew

An open letter about unrequited love, heartbreak, and the difficult journey of moving on, addressed to her who would never know the sacrifices that kept her happy and joyful every single day.

Dear Stranger,

You probably don't know this, but I have loved you for a long time. I have loved you since the first day I saw you in class, with your beautiful smile and your sparkling eyes. I have loved you through all the ups and downs, the laughs and the tears, the good times and the bad times. I have loved you even when you didn't love me back.

I have tried to show you my love in many ways, but you never seemed to notice or care. You always treated me like a friend, nothing more. You never gave me a chance to prove myself to you, to make you happy, to be your partner in crime and well everything. You never saw me as I saw you, as the most amazing person in the world. To me, you happened to be the blinds that shielded me from the negativity and pushed me into an eternal nirvana of goodness that changed me as a person, for the better I believe.

Then you met him again. He was a good friend of mine. He would’ve still been if not for this. He had a crush on you before. He was handsome, charming, confident. He approached you with a smile and tried to mend the ties. You agreed without hesitation. You didn't care that he had hurt you before, that he had stopped talking to you for months without any explanation. You didn't care that he had broken your trust and your heart. You gave him another chance, and he took it.

He became your present, and I became your past. He made you happy in a way that I couldn't. He got to see the deepest part of your life that you never shared with me. He got to be your lover and your confidant. He got to be everything that I wanted to be. While you spoke with him every now and then, here I waited that we’d find a topic to talk about since you only spoke to me when you had either a topic or a reason, not to mention ignore me at every slightest of chance you get.

I was heartbroken, but I didn't hate you or him. I still wanted you to be happy, even if it meant losing you forever. I decided to let you go and move on with my life, even though it was hard as hell. I decided to bury my feelings and forget about my dreams. But I can't lie to myself anymore. I still love you, and I always will. I still think about you every day, and I still hope that you will come back to me someday. I still wish that you would realize how much I love you and how much I sacrificed for your happiness. I still wish that you would miss me and regret losing me. I still wish that you would love me too.

But I know that's just a fantasy. I know that you are happy with him, and that you don't need me anymore - your most chosen second option. I know that you have moved on, and that I should too. So this is my goodbye letter to you. This is my way of saying thank you for everything, and sorry for nothing. This is my way of saying: "I wish you could be happy and smile broadly with me in your arms, but it's okay if you're happy with someone else. I'm glad that you're happy, though it kills me to see you be happy with someone else who was my good friend once before all this happened."

I hope that you will read this letter someday, and that you will understand how I feel. But if not, that's okay too. I just wanted to get this off my chest and let you know that I love you. I hope you’ll realise that the world is huge and there are 8 billion people. But finding someone who will be happy for you, be loyal in this modern dating era of toxicity where even such friends are valued is a person who truly cares for you. All I can say is you lost diamonds while searching for stones.

Goodbye,

A shattered heart.