I've been with my boyfriend for a year and half right now and we have a had rough patches in the past nothing terrible and we decided that we would continue our relationship sort of with a fresh start and just take it slow. It was going GREAT!....but now he wants to "take a break". I don't fully understand what this means. Since we decided to take it slow it has been going good but recently he has acquired 3 jobs, looking to quit one, and he works a lot. He feels that he won't have much time to see me and also needs to work so much to save money and focus on more college studies for his future. He claims he is very stressed which i totally understand and he just wants to see me happy. I told him I don't mind all his work because when he is busy and i can't see him I get to do all my busy work, so that when I see him it is a gift to me. I'm nervous/ scared that he might evaluate and does not see me in his future. He told me this is just a "break" NOT a break-up but i can't help to worry that i might lose him, people tell me he is just keeping me around in case other things don't work out. I don't know anything about taking "a break" so I'm nervous but don't believe this is true cause he told me he isn't interested in other girls because of all his stress, he just needs a friend. We are still very close but there is that weird space and tension between us. He feels that with all the stress it is difficult to take it slow and that he is "on pause" in the relationship and I am moving forward and he can't catch up. I really I was just trying to show him that I am there for him no matter what, but rush him. I don't know what to make of this situation. Is it common to "take a break" in a relationship because of life and stress issues? What does "taking a break mean? Is it always a negative or do people really take a break?