Do you think a person's love can be....?

Okay, so recently I was writing an essay on love for a cl im taking. We were discussing whether love can be earned. I think it can. One of my fav shows is Buffy, and I remember that in the show Buffy didn't love Spike, until she realized what tremendous lengths he went to to restore his soul (being tortured and so on) to gain her love. She wasn't "in love" with him, but you could tell that she developed a "type" of love for him because of the great sacrifices he made for her - it touched her. I KNOW that this is a fictional television show, but I do think that there really is a love that is tremendous enough to captivate your heart, even if your love for the person weren't the same love they feel for you. Do you think this is true or false? I really want some opinions.