My boyfriend has been going through some trying times with external things that are out of our control. He’s been open and honest about what’s been going on and I’ve been able to be by his side while he’s going through it all. The other day I sent him a message to check in on how he’s doing. He told me he was thankful for me to check in on him and that he wanted to talk over the phone with me when I was available. I let him know I was going to be busy until 8pm since I had a lot of work/school work to finish during the day. I messaged him when I got home so we can talk, but he told me he was really overwhelmed and that he had a huge headache so he wasn’t in the mood to talk and that we can talk today. He told me I can just message him and he’ll call me. I realized that when I opened our messages he didn’t read the messages I sent to him last night; I was telling him that he’s allowed to have his space and that I appreciated him for opening up. Him not reading my messages reminded me of how he didn’t read my message for a few weeks while he was processing how to confront me about what he’s been going through, so I am not quick to assume he’s ignoring me because I am the problem or our relationship is the problem, and he reassured me last night that he’s not ready to talk because he’s been overwhelmed with his situation. I am thankful he’s made progress this time around in his communication by telling me how he feels and that he wasn’t in the mood to talk instead of leaving me on delivered to wonder what is going on. I decided to not message him asking if he’s ready to talk over the phone, instead I told him that I wanted to continue to respect his space and that I appreciated him for being honest last night. This is the first time I am by his side during a difficult time, and I don’t want these external problems to get in the way of our relationship. I hope giving him his space is the best thing I can do for now.

*When I finished typing this he sent me a sweet message telling me he’s thankful for understanding his situation and giving him the space he needs and he just wants to spend the evening playing a game together 🥺*