Dating is like an extended time on stage.
Your goal is to look and be as "perfect" as possible until you're home and privately off-stage.
But living together is a whole different ball game.
You both know what each other is like in the morning; including the smell of "morning breath" and the ridiculous "pillow hair".
You can't escape each other's bathroom habits. Seat up or down? Any forgotten flushes? Any novel length reading performed? Yada, yada, yada.
In some countries, especially European ones, it's normal to keep the door open and hold an active conversation when the other party is taking a sh*t. Lol!
I mean, since there's no privacy, nor any attempt at modesty, why stop there?
I'm so grateful that my sweet and sexy long time, live-in girlfriend knows the difference between dating and living together.
She tolerates all my stupid phobias, chronic OCD, PTSD, insomnia and if unduly stressed, my default Asperger's Syndrome behavior.
In short, in spite of knowing pretty much everything about me, she is my best friend and still loves me!
Go figure?
Submitted FYI.
May you and yours be well and love life today.
In lak'ech, JaiChai
[JaiChai 16 SEP 2021. Simultaneous multi-site submissions posted. All rights reserved.]