I have a fight over a small thing between me (27M) and my Could-Be-My-Girlfriend (25F), and now we’re just friends. I don’t know how to fix our long-distance relationship.

It’s hard for me to describe my relationship with her, we’re dating but not dating, but we love each other, and many things happened so fast. I’ve been with her for over a month, met her on Bumble, and it’s just like a right puzzle piece. I don’t have to try hard to get comfortable with her; she also feels the same. And the worst part is we have a **long-distance relationship**.

Long story short, she’s in deep trauma and she always felt that she doesn’t deserve to be loved. She’s never been in any real relationship before, and if I’m being honest, those guys ruin her mental condition. She has a highly defensive mode, like she’ll cut our relationship if I’m doing something wrong, “***I think it’s better for us just to be friends***.” Or, in simple terms, every time I do something wrong, she’ll immediately cut herself out of the relationship to save herself. I don’t blame her, though. If those things happened to me, too, I’ll be fucking mad. And I want to show her I’m being serious here; I’m not playing around with her feelings.

And tonight, we fought over “taking a bath.” I’m a stubborn person, and I won’t lie. It’s common in my country **(Indonesia)** to shower twice. And as the lazy panda that I am, I usually only take one shower per 2 days. I have nothing to do today, and I sleep in bed all day. She told me to take a shower; I said, “**Wait, I gotta clip my nail first,**” and, “**Sorry babe, I’m running out of water, gotta wait for the water to get filled up**” (Yes, I have my water on a tank outside my house, and the sensor is acting weird). To the point, she said, “**whatever**.” For context, she takes a shower twice daily, like every day. She’s just concerned with my self-care. “**You’re doing nothing for a day and gave me those excuses?**” I knew at that moment she was mad as hell.

At first, I won’t lie that I’m quite mad, like why we fight over a shower, and I’m pissed off. Until I realized, that’s how she showed her love. Having a long-distance relationship isn’t easy, communication usually is the conflict. And tonight, she said that fucking word, “***I think it’s better for us just to be friends***.” The point is, I disappointed her. That’s how she showed me her love, and me being stubborn and selfish wouldn’t listen to her.

And I don’t know what to do now. I knew she had a rough relationship before, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not that kinda those guys. I never want to hurt her, not even a second. So, **we’re just friends right now**. She’s had enough with my, “**I’m sorry**” too. Should we take a break? Should I give her some time and space? I want to tell her that I love her very much. After chasing the wrong girl for 3 years and being single for almost 3 years, she’s the puzzle piece I’m looking for. I know that she still got that feeling for me but she’s too scared to try, and I don’t wanna push her too hard either.