The L Word

I'm totally petrified of telling someone I love them. Thanks to my addiction to popular media, I can think of 800 horrible situations that could play out with those words suspended in mid-air. Unfortunately, I can't seem to picture the right response, the words that would mean so much to hear, coming back from my significant other's mouth.
I remember back in the day, with my first few boyfriends, where the words seemed to come easily, or more likely my BF was the first to awkwardly fumble over them. Was that really Love? Probably not...but it seemed like it at the time. Back then, I didn't even consider the fact that they might respond with 'thank you' (Friends), 'I'm hungry' (Seinfeld) or total silence (latest chick-lit book I read).
I've had friends who have been the first to say 'the L word' and when the guy wasn't feeling it, or more likely he was just scared to admit he was, things quickly fell apart. That is a big hurdle to overcome if you want the relationship to continue.
I always believed that when the words seemed to be falling off your tongue, like you had to work so hard to keep them in, that was when you knew it was right. Maybe so, but for now I'll stick with my typical 'I like you' or maybe even 'I heart you'. It's definitely not mature, and there's a chance that when I'm drunk I'll let down my guard, but I'm just not ready to learn how to snuggle around the words hovering in the air between us.