I have a twinkle in my eye for my partner.

Every long relationship has a photograph in it where one person looks ridiculous, mid-sneeze, eyes half shut, and the other one refuses to delete it.

That is roughly what a twinkle is. Not admiration exactly. Something closer to amusement mixed with ownership: you know this person's worst angle and you are delighted by it.

It goes quiet under logistics. Months of school runs and shared calendars can flatten anyone into a colleague. It tends to come back not through effort but through a small interruption, catching their eye across a crowded kitchen while somebody else is talking.

Whatever it is, it is involuntary, and it survives more than people expect.