She was in love with a man who did not exist. The man she loved was kind, thoughtful, and emotionally available. He was the man who would text her good morning, the man who would remember her birthday, the man who would hold her when she cried. He was the man who would commit, who would build a life with her, who would choose her every single day. He was everything she had ever wanted. He was everything she had ever dreamed of. He was perfect in every way.

The man she was actually dating was none of those things. The man she was dating was distant, inconsistent, and emotionally unavailable. He forgot her birthday. He cancelled plans. He disappeared for days without explanation. He said he cared about her, but his actions told a different story. He was not the man she loved. He was not the man she had built up in her mind. But she could not see it. She could not see the gap between the man she imagined and the man who was actually there. She had projected her dreams onto him, and she was in love with a fantasy.