Whoever coined the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" could not have said it better. It's a strange, mixed feeling of sadness, longing, loving, and appreciation. You're sad because you can feel the distance like a great, solid barrier keeping you away from the only thing you want. It's a constant longing... sure it can be pushed to the back of your head by mindless actions. Things you do in some unsuccessful attempt to keep at bay that pang of pain when you go to bed at night knowing that yet another day has passed without feeling their touch. You never stop loving them, and though sometimes your mind becomes preoccupied with other things, they never really leave your thoughts. No matter how involved you seem to get in something, it only takes a split second, a flash of a memory, or some random coincidence to bring an image of their face into your had, stopping you cold, taking a breath from your lungs, and making your heart feel as though it's starting to beat for the first time in years. Absence makes the heart grow fonder because, after feeling all of these emotions for so long, you think back to when it was simple; when they were never more than a few minutes away, and holding them in your arms was something you did, rather than something you remembered. You realize how you almost take for granted the kisses and little looks they give you that shine light into the darkest pockets of your soul and make you smile like you did when you were a kid and nothing ever worried you. This unfair trade; first it was feeling the softness of their skin give you goosebumps when they brush up against you, and now it's that waking feeling in your heart when the phone rings and their voice rings through the line. And even though it's been just a few hours since you last spoke, hearing them talk is the most beautiful sound you've ever heard in your life. This is nothing more than love, in its purest and most beautiful, untouched form.