Get excited and fall in love? The reverse, on both counts (5)
I believe the answer is:
droop
'reverse on both counts' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to change as well as being verbs in their base form.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'get excited and fall in love?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'love?' could be 'o' (love means zero in tennis) and 'o' is found within the answer.
'fall' could be 'drop' (synonyms) and 'drop' is present in the leftover letters.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'the' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for droop that I've seen before include "Dangle" , "Hang limply" , "Decline" , "languish" , "Sag wearily" .)