Things have been hard for me since I graduated from college this spring. I had to leave one job because of concerns about my own safety, and right now I'm working two part time jobs, one of which I like quite a bit. I just got another job offer from the place I've been volunteering for years, and I have always considered it my dream job. The problem is that they want me to work on the days that my boyfriend has off, which means that he and I would never get to see each other for more than a couple hours at a time (also he's about to move an hour away, which would only make it more difficult). So I felt really upset and conflicted about it, and I told him, and I could tell he was trying really hard to be okay with it, because he knows how much this job would mean to me.
I asked if he could tell me how upset he was so we could work on it. “Quite.” I asked him if we could talk about it more, and after a few false starts (“it’s just something I have to deal with”), he started talking. He said he was upset because we could never have days like we had last week, when we went out for a bike ride and just spent the day together. He said we would always be on a schedule.I told him “I love you so, so much. You and your feelings are a priority to me. I’m asking you to talk to me about it so I can understand your feelings and take them into consideration.”
We finished talking and were quiet for a while. I was resting my head on his shoulder. Then I started crying. I was trying to be quiet because we were at his parents' house, but I was still sobbing. I didn't think I was shedding that many tears, but I did get his shirt pretty wet. I hate being uncertain, and I am sick of stepping stones from one job to another, never feeling secure in any of them. He held me tightly, and asked, “Do you just need to cry for a while or do you want me to talk you through it?” “Both,” I squeaked. So he talked to me. He told me I was worrying about everything at once when I didn’t need to. He calmed me down expertly and kept holding me after I stopped crying. I was crying for maybe 10 minutes, and when we talked afterwards I had a couple 30 second "relapses."

After a little while, he said, “I have something weird to tell you. But it seems like you want to know everything, no matter how weird it is.” I nodded.
“This is the first time I’ve been with someone one-on-one who was crying.”
I said, “Okay, but you have seen me cry twice before.”
“Yeah, but that was different.” (And it was, those times it was just a couple quiet tears.) Then he told me about one time when he wasn't able to help someone he was close to, and it seemed like he still felt bad about it.
"Well, you did wonderfully just now.” I said, “Speaking of weird questions, and since we’re on the topic. Insofar as you feel comfortable crying at all, would you feel okay crying in front of me?” He thought a moment and said, “I wouldn’t feel any less comfortable.” This is huge for me, since he knows about my fetish.
After that we stayed up way later than we should have, just lying together. I thanked him for comforting me even when he was upset himself, and apologized for stealing his thunder, which he laughed at.
I’ve decided to say no to the dream job and stick with the part time job. I would have loved the job, but the rest of my life would suffer. Either way it’s a sacrifice, but I’d rather sacrifice my dream job than my social life and my relationship. My boyfriend had conflicting feelings when I told him about it, but later he thanked me, and said it means a lot in a lot of different ways. I just want him to know that I’m serious about him, and his happiness is a part of my happiness.