<human>: We've been together for 1.5 years and have been through a lot of ups and downs. The "issue" that happened today is small, but I'm looking at the bigger picture and need advice on what to do.

This morning everything was going fine, we were both on our own laptops and doing our own thing while next to each other. He's the type to be playful, so every few minutes we would do something small to get my attention (tickle me, hug me, caress my head). At some point, he tried to tickle me and in defense I tried to block myself, but accidentally hit myself in the head. As an immediate response I said, 'stop doing that!' 

Next thing I know, he's shut off, not talking to me, ignoring me, then he tells me he wants space and goes into another room (we live together). He tells me he's just tired and needs space and that we'll be fine tomorrow.

Now I know you're all reading this like 'wow what a petty problem' but I'm more concerned with the bigger issue. I absolutely hate being with someone who let's small things like this become such a big deal. I hate that he refuses to communicate with me and let things go. I hate that he's going to let one little mood swing get in the way of us talking for the rest of the day and it's only 12 in the afternoon. Way to throw off my entire mood. 

We have a troubled past together (although with a lot of ups, the downs are significant) and I'm always fearful that we'll head back to that. Although this 'fight' is small, it makes me feel like things are unchanged and cannot be stabilized. 

**Question**: Have any of you been in a relationship like this? How did you deal with it? Any advice BESIDES breaking up (I already know that there are red flags, that we have problems, and all that, but NO we are not breaking up). 

I sort of just wish I had someone to talk to about these things because it stresses me out thinking about a rocky future with this guy.

Can you condense the text into three sentences or less?
<bot>: Boyfriend and I have had a rough past, small fights like this and his inability to communicate make me think we still don't know how to solve our problems. Don't know how to move forward.