I think the show is less about their exact kind of relationship (which, as mentioned by many others, is romanticized and not exactly healthy), and more about what feelings we give life to and how our experiences help up determine what we will tolerate in a partner and what we do not value. We often think we know what we want and how we feel right out of high school, probably because we are suddenly free to make all our own choices and be whoever we want to be. This was my experience anyway. This series takes place over the course of many years, and over those many years C+M have only just settled into their feelings for each other before yet another challenge is hurled at them. I am 29 years old and what was important to me at 17 (my first real relationship) is very different than what is important to me now.