All the stages of living with your partner at university

Living with your partner at university is definitely an experience. Whether you couple-up after signing the contract, or have been dating each other for some time, moving in together is a massive step in any relationship. Luckily for you, we've complied all the stages of living with your partner at university, so you know exactly what to expect.

Your friends and family question your life choices

Not surprisingly, your parents will question this decision, and your friends will anxiously ask about what will happen in a break-up situation. Everybody seems interested about why on earth any student would want to move in with their partner. But, by unpopular opinion, it’s a pretty good time.

Morning sunshine

You realise that you basically already live together

For most couples at university, one partner tends to take permanent residence at their other half's house. Although this feels like you're living together, at some point you have to pop home to fetch some clean clothes or let your real flatmates know that you're still alive. So why not cut the travel costs and move in together? As flatmates, every night turns into a movie marathon with your best friend, but in the morning, neither of you have to trek back to your house.

The real walk of shame

The unused bedroom becomes a brilliant storage unit

You probably didn't need separate bedrooms, but now everything you collectively own can be found in your chosen 'storage' room, the colder and least conveniently located bedroom of the two. The greatest perk of having a storage room is that it can transform into an ideal guest bedroom. Whenever your pals need a place to stay after a night out, or some friends from home come to visit, your house is their crash pad.

Alternatively, the storage room can be converted into a games room. Xbox boys this is probably your wet dream, a whole entire room for Fortnite fun. Got the TV, the DJ decks, the Xbox, and you're sorted mate (goodbye boyfriend, thanks for coming).

Domestic arguments start to get juicy

When you live together you spend an insane amount of time with one another. You're always free to binge Netflix shows or go on cute dates, but it also opens up time to discuss the juicy, domestic issues, the unavoidable ones all flatmates argue over. You're left to face the real world together, regularly discussing 'adult' things such paying your electricity provider or who forgot to clean the dishes.

It's your turn babe

But every time you hear yourself debate about who took the bins out last you begin to remind yourself of…your parents? How has this happened? In most relationships, there’s usually the clumsy messy one, and the tip top tidy one who follows around with a dustpan and brush. People say that you can never know a person properly until you live with them, and this could not be more true with your partner.

Finally, you merge into the same human being

After living with each other for two months, you come to the realisation that you’ve ever so quickly turned into a married couple.

Absolutely everything becomes shared, and your stingy flatmates even want you to share showers to cut water bill costs. Food becomes a key sharing point, particularly when one partner is under pressure with deadlines or during exam season. The other half always steps up to the bar, cooking the meals and washing up, which is one of the loveliest things when you're at stress level one hundred.

When you live with your girlfriend/boyfriend, you find out all their weird quirks and living habits. But when someone still respects your stained pyjamas and greasy hair, you know you've got something special.

As with all flatmates, it's not always a ball and sometimes the washing-up arguments can get heated, but it's all worth it when you snuggle up in bed and wake up in the place you both call home.