Writing Prompt: June 17 - "Write a story that starts with a character realizing that something in their life must come to an end."

This was it. she had tried for months - no, years - to tell him what she wanted, what she needed to be happy with their relationship. To feel fulfilled. She waited patiently, because no change happens overnight. Everything takes time, She understood that. She also knew that it took two, so her expectation wasn't perfection, just "a little more than now".

She wanted to have family dinners at the kitchen table. He had wanted every meal on the couch in front of the TV.

She wanted to turn in for the night together most nights. He had insisted that he'd come in when he was ready, and nothing was stopping her from going to bed without him.

She wanted to have a part of every night where they devoted time to each other. He was busy.

She wanted to spend time together before he was so tired that he fell asleep 30 minutes into anything they watched. He wanted to game for 6 hours.

She wanted to set aside date nights. He always wanted her to choose where they went and what they did.

She was tired of wanting what she felt were the absolute basics from him, and not seeing progress.

He thought she should stop complaining all the time because hey, he was at home. He didn't go out, and didn't spend nights at clubs. Shouldn't she be happy with that? He *was* spending time with her, because they were in the same house. Regardless of if that time he had his headphones on, talking to everyone that wasn't her.

In the beginning, they had fought over these things. She had wanted them so badly. He never saw the importance. She thought they were simple things to provide. He thought she was trying to control him. She cried every single day. He expressed frustration at her repeated asks for these things that meant so much to her and so little to him.

Then the fighting eased. She tried as much as possible to let things go. She tried not caring. She tried filling the voids with hobbies and projects and self-improvement. She tried going above and beyond for him in every way she could, just to show him that she knew that she was willing to do for him, the same way she was asking him to do for her. She was willing to change first, and she did.

Then the fighting stopped. She became lonely. She gave up.

She realized no amount of work or effort on her part would ever make him want to do the things she needed him to do. He would have to choose to put in the work and effort. He would need to want to do it, and he just didn't.

She wept when her heart disintegrated as she realized. First, because she had put in as much as she had to give, and it wasn't enough, because it hadn't ever really been dependent on her. Then from the grief of loss of what she had always dreamt of having, but never would. Last, out of utter exhaustion and relief of knowing that she had done everything she could to deserve getting what she was asking for.

She realized that it was over.