You’re losing him.

Alex has been gone every night for weeks. He leaves in the morning, sometimes way earlier than when you wake up, and doesn’t come back until late at night. For the first week or so, you forced yourself to wake up early to make him coffee and breakfast, and then stayed up late to go to bed with him. But then you just didn’t see the purpose, so you resumed your old schedule. Now you barely ever see Alex, and it’s taking a toll on you. You can’t even say that it’s taking a toll on your relationship, because there hasn’t been a relationship for almost a month.

On some level, you understand. He’s practicing for his entry for the Eurovision Song Contest — or, at least, that’s what he tells you. He’s won once, competed twice. He wants to win again. He’s so excited and you know that this is his favorite thing to do — to go onstage and sing his heart out, for half of the world to scream and cheer for him. You love him with all your heart, and you’ll always support him and be his biggest fan, but you can’t take it anymore. You miss your boyfriend. You need him. But he needs his music more.

Of course, Alex is none the wiser about your anger and frustration with him, or about your despair and loneliness. He knows that he never gets to see you awake anymore, and he doesn’t know that you’re upset. But what you don’t know is that every morning, he leaves you with a soft kiss on the forehead. And when he gets home, he kisses you again, and cuddles up next to you in the bed. It’s taken a toll on him, too. He’s exhausted — mentally and physically. But because of the schedule, he never gets to vent to you and decompress in your arms. He misses you, as well.

Alex comes home one night a little earlier than usual — just before midnight. The way he is faintly smiling, with a vague blush on his cheeks, adds fuel to your fire. What if he’s cheating on you? You hate to think like that, but…

His smile widens when he sees you. “My love!” He chirps. He walks over to you before doing anything else.