Some relationships never look bad enough to question. Nothing explodes. Nothing happens that feels big enough to point at. You just keep leaving a little more careful than you arrived.
So you adjust. Watch your tone. Choose your words. Learn where the sharp parts are and convince yourself that's just what closeness requires. Eventually, you're so good at avoiding the spines that you stop asking why you're getting cut at all.
Getting used to the sting doesn't make it softer.
