ELEANOR MARGOLIS is a freelance journalist who also writes a column for New Statesman. @EleanorMargolis
“It’s now a phrase that comes out as naturally as a hiccup or a fart”
The first time I ever told a non-family member I loved them, it was a lie. I was 17 and in a relationship with someone who was sweet and thoughtful, but not (and this turned out to be kind of a biggie) a girl. We were in my bed after sleeping together for maybe the second time. Which – if anything – had been even more awkward, fumbling and dull than the first. I was lying there, staring at the ceiling and wondering if this was my life now; unsexy sex with someone I liked but ultimately found about as sexual as a lawnmower. Then he said it: “I love you.”