They make you acknowledge your flaws (that you’d rather ignore).
You don’t like to admit that you’re ridiculously forgetful, or relentlessly impatient, but you are, and when you’re dating the person you’re probably going to be with forever, they bring out your flaws in a way that helps you accept them for what they are, flaws. They help you to work on them, and you somehow become a better person because of it.
They make you realize it’s okay to not be okay.
When you’re dating your forever person, you know they’re forever when you can be your absolute worst self and somehow the love between you still exists. You can be sad, anxious, afraid, or just blatantly scattered and lost, and they don’t attempt to solve your problems or fix you, but they’re just there. You don’t feel like you have to pretend to have everything together because they don’t make you feel pressured to be something you’re not. They don’t pressure you to be perfect. They’re there when you’re not perfect, and they’re there to help you realize that you don’t have to be, that you’ll never be perfect, and that’s okay. They love the way you’re imperfectly you.
You’re both a little scared.
You’re only afraid that whatever this wonderful thing is that the two of you have found and created, aka your relationship and your life together, will end. Being afraid of a broken heart is only okay when you acknowledge that the fear is there, and you continue to love anyway. It’s fine to be afraid of breakups and getting hurt, no one thoroughly enjoys a relationship ending, but you can’t let that stop you from trying. You deserve to try. You deserve to give love a chance, and when you’re both a little scared to, it means you’ve found someone you really care about.
When you convince yourself they’ll eventually leave you, they don’t.
They make their love known. And they let you know it’s not going anywhere, that they’re not going anywhere. And even when you have a hard time believing them, their actions outweigh your doubts, and you can’t do anything but believe them. They make you realize that the reason they continue to stay is because they love being with you, and they love every little thing about you, even the things you don’t like about yourself.
You argue, but respect is ALWAYS there.
Your relationship is not always a pretty painting with blue skies and blooming flowers, sometimes it’s a depressing stock photo. The relationship doesn’t have to always be pretty and cheerful for there to always be respect. You will bicker and fight and annoy the hell out of each other, but your forever person will always respect you.
You push each other.
There are things you both are hesitant to do, places outside of your comfort zone that you’re reluctant to venture towards, but your forever person is the one who takes a step outside your comfort zone, and reaches out their hand for you to take that step with them. They challenge you to exceed the expectations you set for yourself because they always want the best for you.
You each have your own independence (that you enjoy).
You love each other, there’s no question about that, but loving someone doesn’t mean your world revolves around theirs. You both have lives outside of one another, hobbies and interests and places you go that that you don’t go together. That’s okay. You’re a part of their world, and they’re a part of yours, but they’re not always going to be around, and they don’t have to be, and when this is something you both understand you know you’ve met someone who’s worth it.
You miss them when they’re gone.
Even though you both are capable of being apart, you still miss each other when you are. They’re the person you love coming home to. They’re the person who embodies the idea of home for you that isn’t necessarily a place.
You make compromises to be together.
You learn to give up the things that don’t mean everything to you, because you’ve found a person who does. You don’t give up in an I’m settling kind of way, but you compromise in a way where you understand that having this person in your life is more important to you than the things that you only used to think your world revolved around. You never thought you’d move out of the city you fell in love with, but you do it when living in that city wouldn’t be the same without this person in your life. There are compromises you make in order to be with each other, and that’s not always comfortable, but it’s real. 
