What is romance? When I was eighteen I thought romance was a bouquet of roses, perfectly rhyming poetry and a good Michael Bublé song.

I thought romance and love went hand in hand (pun intended). Love interest = romance, right? In my twenties, I discovered the true meaning of romance. Romance is being dumb, clueless and in your twenties. It’s  heady music and clinking glasses with your best friend. Romance is running through Dublin on a warm Summer evening in a pair of Topshop heels and feeling like anything is possible. It’s free, loud, unapologetic laughter. Romance is falling asleep next to your roommate because you stayed up all night talking. It is composed of cryptic text messages, faces stained with red lipstick and not really caring all that much. Romance is believing in yourself when no one else would. Romance is having plans too big for your quaint hometown. It’s raw. It is unrefined. It isn't careful or delicate. It is loud and proud. Romance is the feeling you get every time you dare to be bold. Romance is daring to dream bigger than you were ever taught in school. Romance is crying into your old, comfy jumper but making a decision not to quit. Romance is wiping away the mascara on your tear-stained cheek and starting over. Romance is following your heart. Romance is all of those moments that you choose to be whole-heartedly and inexorably yourself. Romance is coming out to your family and noticing your friends, beaming with pride. Romance is drunkenly dancing in the rain and sharing too many secrets with your friends. Romance is a heart that is bursting with pride and self-belief. Romance is a risky kiss, an over-due phone call, an outlet of giggles in a silent room. Romance is the smell of fresh coffee and new books. Romance is the echo of that song that forces your mind to become flooded with flashbacks of bad dancing. Romance is your squad trying to be as cool as Taylor's and failing epically but feeling twice as cool. Your twenties. That is romance. Anything really is possible. The endless possibilities vibrate through your entire body, building each day with intensity. Both ambition and apathy coursing through your boiling veins, this is romance. Romance is feeling alive. Romance is the moment you realise you are in love with your twenties.