You may think the issues between you are small things, but not being able to communicate is actually the problem and that's huge. For whatever reason he can't or won't hear you and it sounds like your discussions frequently result in either withdrawal and shut down on his part (very hard to live with) or open conflict. My husband is the same and honestly it's very hard to make a relationship work in that situation, especially when you have all the added tensions of a stepchild to contend with. It is miserable to be with someone who attempts to control situations by refusing to engage, or by getting angry, and it has taken its toll on my marriage. If I had my time again I would pay more attntion to the warning signs instead of making excuses and naively thinking love would make everything alright.

If your partner wants time alone then give it to him, and more than he's asked for. Don't contact him for the remainder of the week, he is trying to shut you up by refusing to talk about the issue, and then scaring you with the silent threat of leaving the relationship. You need to calmly stand your ground. And seriously consider whether you should be in a relationship with someone who cannot address problems in a healthy way. You might also want to consider whether the reason his ex seems so crazy is that he played these abusive control games with her for years.

What I would do ? Stay busy, give him space, go do your own thing. When he's ready to talk, he will talk. Desperately texting him and bugging him isn't going to help things, its only going to make it worse. Go out to the mall, go work out, go to the store, come on step talk. If its not going to work, it just isn't. If he wants to leave, let him leave. If he wants it to work, then maybe start counseling.

Hope it works out

If there's one thing I could not stand when recently married was the storming off business. I am a child of divorce who didn't really know why my parents split. I saw them fight ONE time, then boom he was gone. So in every relationship, when someone shuts me out - boom I'm done. Then when I got married, DH and I would fight, he would leave to "get fresh air" and I would immediately start planning the rest of my life without him. After about five years of this, he thought I would realize that just because we fight and he needs to step out doesn't mean it's over. I thought he should realize how abandoned I felt. But, he watched his parents have a healthy marriage and informed me that people fight it's not the end of the world. They need space. Then they come back after they have cooled off and nobody says anything they regret. In 15 years, we have never had a screaming match or said anything abusive to each other in the heat of the moment.. I am grateful for that and I really owe that to DH. I used to feel so abandoned after he would leave. Now, I have to believe he will come back and we will work on the problem. As women, we are so eager to solve all the problems as soon as possible. Men don't process like that and we have to respect each others process. It's hard I know. Self care is more important than ever at this point.

I'm so sorry you're going through this. My sister always gives this advice, you have a choice. This can either ruin the next few days or you can choose to put out of mind and focus on you and being happy. I hope it works out just as you want it too.

You say you two only have minor issues but you can't communicate with him about those issues.

Guess what? If you two cannot communicate, I highly doubt if your marriage will last.