Austin was my Enemies to Lovers Plot

Love isn’t always as pretty or pure as people like to think. There’s a darkness in it sometimes. I made him who he is. If he’s a monster, then I’m his creator.
- Manacled by Sen Lin Yu

I have a chemistry problem with the hero and the villain in my book– they have too much of it. Every time they're on the same page, there's so much fire I worry it'll overheat my Macbook. I don't even have to try either, they write themselves, and it's the best writing in the book.

The hero is supposed to be in love with someone else, someone who is actually good for her. I've re-rewritten good guy's character a couple times, but it still feels like he's third wheeling on a date that isn't his.

Why? Because a good villain always sharpens the hero. The stronger he is, the stronger the hero has to be in order to match him. A good hero and villain respect either other, it makes their conflict greater. They should be opposites, and I hate to say it, but my hero and villain kind of complete each other.

How can the good guy compete? (if you have advice, btw, I'm all ears)

Anyhow, it reminds me of Austin, Texas.

I recently left, and my family and close friends who don't live in Texas have ALL told me NOT to move back. Like, all of them.

"You were consistently unhappy there," is the top comment. "You hated the culture," is the next. And yes, there were many things I despised about Austin and specifically the 'optimization at any cost' culture that I often felt I was drowning alive in.

But that culture, like any good villain, sharpened me. The people I met pressed me, challenged me, grew me, hurt me, saved me, loved me, destroyed me, over and over, and I watched myself get stronger and stronger each time.

And I secretly love Austin, and its Austinites, for it.

Now that I'm gone, every other city pales in comparison. They all feel like they're third wheeling on a date that isn't theirs.