She thought he wasn't attracted to her anymore.
That was the only explanation that made sense.
They'd been together eight months.
He texted her good morning every day.
He remembered she liked extra pickles.
He laughed at her bad jokes like they were good ones.
By every normal measure, things were fine.
Except when things got intimate.
Something changed.
The first time, he pulled back.
"Sorry. I'm just tired."
She believed him. Everyone gets tired.
The second time, he mumbled something about work.
She believed that too.
The third time, neither of them said anything.
They just lay there.
The silence did more talking than either of them wanted.
She started running the math in her head.
Was he seeing someone else?
Had she gained weight?
Did she say something wrong last week?
None of it added up.
But her brain kept trying anyway.
That's what brains do when something hurts and there's no explanation.
They invent one.
Meanwhile, he was doing his own quiet math.
He just wasn't sharing the results.
One night she finally asked, straight out.
"Are you still attracted to me?"
He looked genuinely startled.
"Of course I am. Why would you even ask that?"
"Then what's going on?"
He looked at the ceiling.
Then his hands.
Then finally at her.
"I don't know," he said. "It's been happening for months. I didn't know how to bring it up."