I feel in love to a person who kept their true nature hidden from me for a long time. In my eyes, he was handsome, creative, fun, smart, and he loved me. In the real world, he was manipulative, selfish, self-pitying, and a drug addict. He revealed bits about himself little by little over time until I was picking him up from the hospital from a possible OD with a nurse telling me that I should be careful. He took money from me and never gave it back. He used me to manipulate his mother, the only other person out there still willing to suffer for him. He said enough nice things to me for me to feel loved, but he said enough hurtful things to me that over time even I realized something was wrong.
He was the first person that I loved, and the feelings ran deep. Even when I realized that he was being terrible to me and I broke up with him, it hurt. From that experience I realized that love is not enough. A person may love you in their broken, messed up way, but if they can't bring themselves to consider your feelings, respect you, and be honest with you, what kind of love is that? It's not a healthy love.
Over time I realized more and more that I never really knew his true self. So much of our relationship was lies and manipulation. He did care, to some degree, but he was broken, and he was going to take me down with him. I am glad to be free. From that experience I learned so much about love and when love feels wrong. I learned about the way that people manipulate each other, even when it's unintentional. I learned first hand that even smart people can be conned by love.
I also learned that it's not all bad. I don't regret anything I did, because otherwise I never could have known. Ultimately, this bad relationship actually led me to find the man of my dreams, and I was all the more ready to have a healthy relationship having learned so much. :)