Love is in the air, and it burns my throat like acidrain.

As you can guess, Valentine's Day isn't my favorite this year. At least I get to spend it with the two cutest boys in the world. We're planning a fancy dinner of pizza and a Redbox movie. We keep it real. But after they go to bed, I plan on watching Hope Floats, The Lucky One, and Catch and Release, all while eating a tub of ice cream. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. I know you all think I'm brave for doing what I'm doing, but the truth is that I'm a mess. Like I spent last night sobbing while watching Bates Motel because Norman has at least four people into him, and he's budding psychopathic murderer.

But I digress. This post is supposed to be about writing about love. Write a kissing scene. You know you want to!

Here's mine. I should have written something new, but I'm tired, y'all. This is from something I wrote a few years ago. It's about a necromancer, a reaper, a murder, a mystery, an apocalypse, and a love that reaches beyond the bonds of death! That last part sounded cheesy, but whatevs.

Just when I’ve given up, everything is jarred back into focus. I am away from my body and standing in front of the Reaper.

“Cassandra,” Reiner says. The cadence of his voice is like a caress, and the way he says my name makes me remember what it feels like to be loved. “Come with me. It is time.” He holds out his hand. “You will rule the dead by my side, with me forever. This is what is meant to be.”

He moves closer, so close that I have the urge to beg him to never leave. I need to flee, but I can’t move. I’m so transfixed by his beauty, his proximity, his power. I stand stock still as his lips press into mine, his lips burning they are so hot.

My mouth moves with his. I go up on my tip toes to get a better angle, and he brings me closer to him. His lips are chapped, and his callused palms brush over the skin exposed by my ripped shirt. Reiner isn’t cruel like I expected him to be, but sweet, almost loving.

What am I doing? Kissing the Reaper when I know just touching him will kill me?  I push out of the embrace. My heartbeat is loud in my chest. Thud, thud, thud. Then it gets quieter and quieter until there is nothing but empty silence ringing in my ears. My body feels foreign, like I will never be a part of it again. Life is gone.

I am dead.

You wouldn't know it, but I still believe in love. I look forward to being good and kissed again someday, or kissed so thoroughly that it might kill me. But all that love stuff is far away. I've got to get myself together first, and I've got some sweet little men in my life who rightfully take up all the space in my heart.

If you have a good, honest, loving Valentine, be grateful. Kiss them hard in the pouring rain. If you don't, that's okay, too. You've got yourself, and that you is amazing. You are better than all those fishes in the sea. You are perfect, just the way you are.