yeah...a relationship based on debt never lasts, they have no chemistry, he's insecure and depressed while she has trust and intimacy issues
an author has to be with someone either off-this-world fascinating or stable and grounded like bedrock, an anchor to reality
of course she's taking contraceptives and if he was any smarter, he'd know that
they are not ready for children and he's subconsciously aware of this (drinking behind her back) and yet he clings onto false hope and false love, hoping a child would bind them
that also rarely works, if at all ever 😕