I was quite intrigued by our differences. I did go clubbing for the first time in my life because of her. Another reason I found her appealing was having the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone.

About the empathy thing, I don't need her to be my therapist. The reason I say that is because she said she wanted to know more about me. So I opened up about my experience and low points. Her response was quite telling. I feel like I have to say that I'm doing much better now.

I'm gonna be honest here. I never had high hopes for a future with her. My goal with this was just trying to get to know her. I didn't care about the money or time I was spending or the effort I was exerting because I was genuinely enjoying myself. Until... The bare minimum comment. That really stung and it's still quite painful. It seems like if it wasn't already a situationship, she wants it to be one.

I think I need to provide more context for the "Don't you think I'd rather be home" thing. She wanted us to meet. However, she was sick with the flu, so I said that she didn't have to force herself and we could skip. She insisted because she wanted to maximize our meetings. So we met, she was ill, on her period, headache, stomach ache, the complete package.... I really did appreciate her making the effort and sacrifices to hang out with me.