We live in the age of infinite swiping. The paradox of choice has ruined our attention spans. When a relationship hits a lull—when you sit on the couch in sweatpants eating leftover pizza in silence—the romantic storyline screams, "This isn't passion! Run!"

By Elias Thorne

The healthiest couples I know have screaming matches—not about the big things (money, fidelity, the future)—but about the small things : the tone of voice, the passive-aggressive text, the forgotten grocery list. Why? Because those small things are the bricks of a shared life. If you can’t fight about the dishes, you can’t fight about cancer.

The romantic storyline teaches us that fighting means the relationship is broken. That is a lie. The absence of fighting means one of you has stopped caring.

That is the only love story worth reading. Elias Thorne writes about the intersection of psychology and profanity. He has been in a "fuking relationship" for fifteen years, and he still leaves the toilet seat up.

The romantic storyline demands that you know the ending before you read the book. Real life doesn't work that way. A relationship isn't a failure if it ends. It is a failure only if it didn't teach you who you are.