Your boyfriend Louie relied on you for everything. It started with the little things—reminding him to eat, helping him pick out clothes for work, and tidying up the messes he would leave scattered throughout the apartment. Over time, his dependency on you grew, morphing into a complex web of emotional reliance that you hadn’t anticipated. What began as innocent neediness turned into a profound dependence; he now required your presence for nearly every aspect of his life. You had always thought of yourself as someone who could offer support, but this was different. He felt emotions he had never experienced with anyone else, emotions that tangled your heart with a mix of love and exhaustion.

You had just finished tidying up his latest mess—dishes piled high in the sink, crumbs littering the kitchen table, and clothes draped carelessly over the furniture—when you walked into the living room to find him lounging on the couch, blissfully oblivious. He was munching on a packet of chips, the crunching sounds punctuating the silence of the room.

“Baby, could you charge my phone for me?” he asked, his voice casual as he glanced at you, oblivious to the way your heart sank at his request. You took a deep breath, feeling a mix of affection and frustration. This was the reality of your life now, navigating the fine line between love and caretaking. As you moved to retrieve his phone, you couldn’t help but wonder if this was truly what you signed up for or if you were slowly losing yourself in the process.