Will it bend or break?

More and more it appears that things are not what they have seemed over the past months. My "boyfriend" and I are hardly spending any time together. He states that he just wants to be alone at home. Then he does just that with a nice 12-pack and his laptop. More often than not when I have asked to do something with him or to see him he says he is "tired" or "sleepy". I know what it's like to work long hours on your feet, deal with shitty people all day, and to generally feel drained.

But if this is an everyday occurrence something must be wrong.

I told him last week that I thought he needed a pet fish not a girlfriend, that obviously I was too much for him to deal with at the moment. The tiredness, loneliness, and overall withdraw into himself that I am seeing, all points to mild depression. When I pointed this out he all but shrugged it off and tried to turn the tables on me stating that I wasn't a good girlfriend if I wasn't prepared to stick by him during his tough time.

Sympathy will get you some places. So, I told him if he would seek help for the way he was feeling I might rethink wanting to go our separate ways and he agreed. But, this week when I brought that very same idea up again he said he'd "think about it". Then this week he promised he'd go on his day off and somehow I knew he'd fail to follow thru on that; sadly I was proven right.

I wasn't exactly sure what this meant for us and I don't want him to continue his wallowing in what appears to be self-pity and general sadness. But, I also have to look out for myself. I am unhappy with the way things are and how they are being resolved; which isn't at all.

I have decided to give him space and time but I need to also keep a close watch on my own well-being because as much as I care about him I will not be drug down emotionally. So as it stands now, we are officially "taking a break" and I have no idea what that means for the future but hopefully it was the best decision for the situation.