Signs Your Relationship Is Over, Even If It Isn’t

[caption id="attachment_834220" align="alignleft" width="1068"] Bigstockphoto.com/Young displeased black couple.American african men arguing with his girlfriend, who is sitting on sofa on couch next to him with legs crossed.Man looking away offended expression on her face.Cropped[/caption] Everyone has taken a trip to denial town when their relationship was clearly coming to an end. Some people get comfortable and stay in deniable town for a long time, as they just try not to think about the state of their relationship. So long as they don’t look too closely, they can pretend that things are just fine. Some people move into denial town, compartmentalize their lives, and marry a person with whom the spark is gone and the compatibility is nonexistent. Spend as much time in denial as you want, but the fact of the matter is that just because you can still technically call yourself taken doesn’t mean there is any life left in your relationship—you may just be dragging its corpse around. Here are undeniable signs your relationship is over, even if you haven’t called it quits. [caption id="attachment_707169" align="alignleft" width="421"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You’re pining after somebody new

So long as you have eyes that work, you’re going to find other people attractive. But when you’re fully invested in your partner, you forget about those other people the moment you’re around him. If you’ve found yourself fantasizing about somebody else regularly and while you’re with your partner, it’s over. Your connection is broken and now you’re seeking somebody new to latch onto.     [caption id="attachment_704639" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You delay going home

You’re always the one who wants to get your friends one last round of drinks or wants to put finishing touches on a work project for hours. You are in no hurry to get home to your partner. Remember when you annoyed your friends because you rushed off after one drink because you couldn’t wait to see your boo? If that seems like ages ago, it’s over.       [caption id="attachment_611081" align="alignleft" width="423"] Corbis Images[/caption]

Listening to him is a chore

Listening to your partner talk about things he cares about, complain about work, talk about his dreams, or really discuss anything that requires active listening on your part feels like a chore. You don’t really care about being involved in his life anymore, so now when he talks, you just wait for him to stop so you can watch TV. And you edit down your life updates to two sentences.       [caption id="attachment_704584" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You feel guilty around his family

You are starting to feel pretty bad every time his mom asks you to get coffee or his dad stops by to fix something in your apartment. His family is investing in you because they think you’re going to stick around. Deep down, you know you’re on your way out, so you feel guilty. You feel the same way around his friends who make an effort with you.     [caption id="attachment_715001" align="alignleft" width="425"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You won’t inconvenience yourself to see him

If it’s that night of the week when finding parking in his neighborhood is particularly difficult, you just won’t go over. If you have an appointment in the morning that’s far away from his place, you won’t go over the night before. Hey, remember the days when you’d park a half hour walk away from his apartment if you had to, just so you could sleep next to him for five hours before waking up and driving across town to work? [caption id="attachment_713803" align="alignleft" width="420"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You feel sad after sex

After having sex with your partner, you feel the way you did when you were single and would wake up after having drunken sex next to someone you regret sleeping with. Giving your body to someone you no longer feel connected to is a very empty sensation.           [caption id="attachment_705388" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

You aren’t even together when you’re together

When you and your boyfriend do hang out, he plays video games and you read. You don’t even bother with agreeing on when and what to eat; your partner orders pizza when he wants to, and you pick up your favorite take-out a little bit later. You’re not actually spending time together, but you get to say you are since you’re in the same room.       [caption id="attachment_718323" align="alignleft" width="415"] Shutterstock[/caption]

People are surprised you’re in a relationship

People are often surprised to find out that you’re in a relationship. You never mention your boyfriend, you never seem like you’re in any hurry to get home to somebody, and you’re even pretty flirty with other men. There are people you’ve known for months who had no idea you were in a relationship.         [caption id="attachment_719795" align="alignleft" width="429"] Shutterstock[/caption]

Your friends are dropping hints

Your friends have begun asking you leading questions like, “You’re happy, right?” and saying things like, “You know you can always talk to me about anything.” They’ve also gone on long rants about how happy and perfect some other couple is…almost as if to point out to you that you and your boyfriend are nothing like them.       [caption id="attachment_700509" align="alignleft" width="420"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You love when your partner travels

You love when your partner goes out of town. It feels like being a teenager and having your parents go out of town. You don’t have to check in with him as much or worry about what time you get home. The times you’ve been the happiest recently were when your partner was out of town.         [caption id="attachment_704630" align="alignleft" width="420"] Image Source: Shutterstock[/caption]

Saying, “I love you” makes you feel dead inside

Saying the words, “I love you” to your partner has started to make you feel dead inside, panicked, numb, guilty, stale—you name it, but it isn’t good. It’s because you know you are lying, and you’re telling one of the worst lies of all.         [caption id="attachment_702119" align="alignleft" width="420"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You fight more than you don’t

You spend much more time fighting than getting along. Your relationship has started to feel like a tremendous amount of work. Every week is an uphill battle of arguments to possibly enjoy an hour of getting along before you start fighting all over again.           [caption id="attachment_608914" align="alignleft" width="500"] Shutterstock[/caption]

Doing favors for him bothers you

If your partner asks you to pick up his prescription on your way home, asks you to help with his chores around the apartment because he’s under a lot of stress, or simply asks for a backrub, you feel incredibly irritated. You used to gladly do your partner favors because his love was all the repayment you needed. But now, his love does nothing for you, so these favors are just annoyances. [caption id="attachment_617897" align="alignleft" width="451"] Shutterstock[/caption]

You’re phoning it in on presents

Buying presents for your partner on his birthday and other holidays has started to bother you. It just feels like money down the drain since you know, in your gut, you won’t be together much longer. You’ve started phoning it in on gifts and trying to see how cheap you can be without him noticing.       [caption id="attachment_614093" align="alignleft" width="424"] Corbis[/caption]

You’re envious of that happy couple

When you see happy, bonded couples, you feel like you have nothing in common to them—you cannot relate to them, at all. There once was a time when you were a part of the happy couple club, but now you feel decidedly on the outside of it.

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