Some people only feel deep connection once or twice in their lives — a first kiss, a perfect choir moment, a flash of chemistry they can’t explain. For me, it can happen in seconds. Autistic nervous systems like mine can attune incredibly fast. Heart rate, breath, micro-expressions, even subtle body sway — my system picks them up immediately. It’s not romance. It’s accelerated neural coupling. The other person feels something rare. I feel something normal. And that mismatch carries a cost. I take pieces of people with me. I need time to “de-sync.” They’re left wondering why it felt so intense. That’s why I protect myself. Dark glasses. Shorter exchanges. Boundaries that look strict but are actually kind. Some of us don’t fall in love. We fall into rhythm. And sometimes that rhythm is simply too much for us both.
