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I did not notice it happening at first.

That is probably the thing about emotional exhaustion inside a relationship. It rarely arrives all at once. It happens quietly enough that you can keep explaining it away while it is happening.

At the beginning, I thought I was just tired.

Then I thought I was stressed.

Then I started convincing myself that every relationship goes through phases where things feel heavier.

Maybe that part is true.

But there is a difference between a difficult period and feeling like your nervous system never fully relaxes around someone anymore.

I did not understand that difference until later.

At some point, the relationship stopped feeling like a place where I could rest.

It became something I had to prepare for.

The Kind of Exhaustion Nobody Notices

I remember lying in bed one night staring at the ceiling after an argument that technically was not even that serious.

That was the strange part.

Nothing dramatic had happened.…