Image: iStock.

There are few things better than the rose-tinted head-over-heels stage of a new relationship. Intoxicated with a new love, all you want to do is spend time with them. And when you’re not spending all of your days with them, you’re texting and chatting constantly.

Three years into my relationship with Steve (and well into the ‘realities’ of living and being together), I’m still in love, I have no doubt about that, but the way my partner treats me now is different. His behaviour started changing ever so slowly I didn’t notice at first, but now the truth is glaring.

I’m invisible. It certainly feels that way.

Gone are the “I love you” or “I’m thinking of you” texts throughout the day (or anything really, other than “What’s for dinner?”), date nights are completely non-existent and I could leave the house in an astronaut suit and it wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, he pays that little attention to my appearance. (Post continues after gallery.)

Celebrities talking about their break ups.

Jennifer Aniston.It was possibly one of the most talked about Hollywood break ups - Jen and Brad. In an interview with Vanity Fair Jen shared her experience, "There are many stages of grief. It's sad, something coming to an end. It cracks you open, in a waycracks you open to feeling. When you try to avoid the pain, it creates greater pain. I'm a human being, having a human experience in front of the world. I wish it weren't in front of the world. I try really hard to rise above it." Image via WikiCommons.

Rita Ora.

Rita discussed her break up with Calvin Harris in Marie Claire, "It was more of a thing where I was in awe. I was at that point in my relationship where I felt he could do no wrong. I thought he had my back and that he'd never steer me wrong. But then 'I Will Never Let You Down' came out, and everything started to go a bit weird. I don't know if it was because business was mixed with personal or what." Image via Instagram (@ritaora).

Demi Moore.

Demi Moore discussed her breakup with Ashton Kutcher with Harpers Bazar - "I used to think that what scared me was the idea of being abandoned until someone said to me, 'Only children can be abandoned. Adults can't be abandoned because we have a choice. Children don't have a choice.' So I started to rethink. 'OK, it's not that. What's the underlying thread that really scares me?' I think what scares me is not having the courage to reach my full potential." Image via Twitter (@justdemi).

Kim Kardashian.

On her website, KimKardashian.com Kim shared her breakup with Kris Humphries, "I felt like I was on a fast roller coaster and couldn't get off when now I know I probably should have. I got caught up with the hoopla and the filming of the TV show that when I probably should have ended my relationship, I didn't know how to and didn't want to disappoint a lot of people." Image via Instagram.

J-Lo.

"It felt like my heart had been torn out of my chest." - Jennifer Lopez on Ben Affleck, in her memoir True Love. Image via Instagram.

Reese Witherspoon"[Divorce is] very humiliating and very isolating... But, by the way, if it's not painful, maybe it wasn't the right decision to marry to begin with." - Elle Magazine. Image via WikiCommons.

Cameron Diaz.

"When I was going through a bit of a heartbreak a little while ago, I said to a friend, 'Wow, this really hurts!' And he said to me, 'That just shows you what your capacity for loving is.' I would rather have my heart broken a thousand times than never to love at all. I have so much love to give I'm not empty of love, I'm full of love." - Cameron discussing her break up with Alex Rodriguez in InStyle. Image via Instagram.

Katy Perry.

During an interview on The Project Katy discussed her break up with Russell Brand - "Sometimes you can be blinded by your extreme emotions. I definitely was looking for answers during that time I wrote that song ["The Grace of God"]. And yeah, I was depressed, and it was sad, and there were thoughts, but there were never actions, thankfully." Image via Instagram.

Taylor Swift.

"There's just been this earth-shattering, not recent, but absolute crash-and-burn heartbreak, and that will turn out to be what the next album is about. The only way that I can feel better about myself pull myself out of that awful pain of losing someone is writing songs about it to get some sort of clarity." - Taylor Swift, Vogue. Image via Instagram.

Emma Stone."I was crawling on the floor. I remember throwing up. I remember being on the floor... I have never felt anything quite like that. It was so visceral. It's like someone has killed you and you have to live through it and watch it happen. It was awful." - Emma Stone on her first heartbreak, Interview. Image via WikiCommons.

Two weeks ago, I came to the realisation that our relationship was completely changed.

After heading out to do a spot of makeup shopping, I’d been talked into a deal to get a range of products and a professionally applied “makeup look”. On a whim I took it up and I loved the results. I loved the way I looked. Glamorous, is how I felt.

Excited about showing Steve the makeup, I returned home with a bottle of wine and plans for takeaway.

“Oh, hi!” I said as I walked in, waiting for him to look up from the TV.

“Hi,” he replied without even looking at me. Monotone.

“So I thought we could have a nice night in together,” I said, still trying.

“I’ll stick to beer,” he said, glancing at the wine bottle in my hand. Still, he hadn’t looked up at me. At my face. I hadn’t seen him all day, I thought he’d be pleased to see me, or at the very least notice what’d I’d had done. But nothing.

The one-sided conversation continued on until finally I asked him what he thought of my look.

“Oh, yeah, right. Did it cost a lot?” was the delightful response I received. He had literally looked at me for one moment.

It was official, I was invisible.

Steve has never been a particularly openly affectionate or romantic person, but knowing that I was, he at least he used to make the effort. Now I feel like I’m just part of the furniture and completely taken for granted.

When I bring it up, he says he shows me love in other ways like fixing leaky toilets and taking in our car when it’s due for a service.

I’m entirely appreciative of all that, but is it really too hard for him to throw a compliment, a spontaneous kiss or a shred of attention my way? It often feels more like a friendship than a relationship. We’re mechanical together. Going through a routine.

Outside of home, it’s exactly the same. Most of my friends are also friends of Steve’s, so most can’t imagine us separately as individuals. I would never stray, but that feeling of invisibility has only stirred up a desire for affection or even just attention from men. (Post continues after gallery.)

Image: iStock.

I tell myself that having a man doesn’t equal happiness, but I’m pretty sure having someone who openly cares and pays attention to you certainly contributes.

It’s got the point now where I’m craving affection so much that it wouldn’t take much for someone else to sweep me off my feet.

If Steve ever does say something nice (after I recover from shock) it’s usually because he wants something. I know that real relationships aren’t full of romantic declarations and steamy sex as rom-coms would have us believe but it certainly isn’t the happy ending I always envisioned.

The affection has become far too one-sided and I’m not sure how much longer I can stand it.

What would you do in this situation?