You feel an unbridled passion about that person, you can look at them and recognize their flaws but feel that they're the best person in the entire world. There's a certain longing that goes along with it, not to sound clingy but I long for my girlfriend when she's not around. The person you're in love with becomes the focus of your entire world, and you can't picture living without them.
And when you do have to picture that, it's incredibly painful. My current girlfriend is the most perfect girlfriend I could ever imagine having, I love her so much and I know she loves me. But we both know the relationship has to end. I'm moving across the country in a month, something that's been in planning since before I even met her. From the very first date we knew what was coming, and we went forward anyway thinking this would be a "temporary" relationship where we could have our fun and move on, but I've fallen for her hard and she's said she feels the same way about me. We've talked about trying a long distance relationship but realistically it doesn't seem like something we'd be able to maintain without being miserable. So we're still together and we love each other and try to spend as much time together as possible, but we're essentially "pre-broken up," I feel like we're in limbo. I know that when I have to leave we're both going to be miserable anyway. I don't know what I'm gonna do without her in my life. I've come to love her so much, I'm afraid of having to leave her behind. I don't know if I'll ever be able to find a girl who I can connect with at that same level that I connect with her, and I'm afraid that I'll just end up hurting other girls because I won't be over her, and I'm just looking for a "replacement."
It's painful and terrible and just sucks, but it's worth it, because that's what love is. If you're in love, even with bad shit happening around you, it just feels worth it. I don't regret anything. I wish things for me could work out differently but I have to accept what best for the both of us, because I love her and I want her to be happy.
Sorry for the wall of text, I just needed to vent.