Press enter or click to view image in full size 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. No screaming.…