And it is different for different people.
Like a lot of teenagers, I had crushes on different boys, but ~ silly as it sounds ~ I always felt that the Nat King Cole song was right for me ~ 'When I fall in love, it will be for ever'.
I had one boyfriend. I felt entirely loved. I knew that we would marry and stay together. That was over 34 years ago. I don't live a fairy tale, and I didn't have to kiss any frogs, or be pressured into doing anything I wasn't ready for.
We are still happily married.
Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe we make our own luck, by being true to ourselves and finding the right soul mate for us.