The most comforting lie we tell ourselves after something goes wrong in a relationship is: just give it time. Time does a few things. It blunts the sharpness of fresh pain. It creates distance that sometimes allows perspective. It allows people to calm down from the heat of an immediate moment. What time does not do is resolve anything. It does not address what happened. It does not change the understanding between two people. It does not close the loop that is still open. A wound left untreated does not heal. It scabs, but underneath, it may be infected. Time has passed. The surface has changed. The wound has not. What heals is what happens in the time. The conversation you choose to have. The acknowledgement you choose to give. The apology that is offered genuinely and received without conditions. The honest naming of a pattern so both people can see it. Time buys space. What you do in that space is the healing. They are not the same thing, and confusing them is one of the more expensive mistakes people make in close relationships.