My boyfriend and I have been dating for over six months, and we are in a long distance relationship. We live close enough to see each other almost every weekend, and we have great communication and a pact with one another to always be honest, even if it's not what the other might want to hear. We've made a committment to one another, and long-term plans for marriage have been discussed and agreed that both of us want to give it a long time.

Here is the struggle. My boyfriend didn't date anyone for almost five years after a series of unfaithful relationships (the girlfriends he had were unfaithful to him) and seeing how demanding his own mother was in her marriages. She's on her third now, and it's falling apart. He is very sensitive and refuses to put up with any woman controlling, manipulating, or guilting him into anything because that has been what he has had to deal with from the women in his life. When he met me and understood that I am direct and straightforward and loathe controlling and manipulation as much as he does, and of course, as we connected on similar interests, personalities, and attraction to one another, our relationship has grown.

However, he is still looking for me to do to him what the women in his past has done. He is almost expecting it, and this past weekend, I said something that he took as me trying to make him feel guilty for his response and suddenly, it's as if all the progress we've made in the past six months of him getting to know me is wiped away. I can't discount his feelings, and I apologized for saying anything that made him feel as though I were trying to make him feel guilty for being himself (which I honestly did not intend), but I can tell the walls are up. It's only been six months, and I can't expect for six months to erase what he has been faced with his entire life. I love him deeply, and I want more than I can express for this relationship to work. I'm willing to continue to be patient and understanding and give it time because this is the largest issue we face. Other than this, our relationship is healthy and strong.

I guess the question I wanted to put out there was if anyone has been in this kind of situation, where time healed and trust was given, or if I'm setting myself up to be in a place five years from now where I'm having to be the one paying for what the women in the past (and present) are doing to him?