Healthy Relationships Support Group
No relationship is perfect. A long-term relationship requires constant effort to understand each other, fix misunderstandings, solve problems and continue to grow as both individuals change and evolve. How we deal with our misunderstandings is the focus of this community. Join us to find support, get advice, and share your experience with your relationship.
bellehandle
Suprisingly, I trust my boyfriend. I have known him for multiple years and throughout all of his girlfriends, he's cheated or been inappropriate with every single one of them. His first girlfriend, who he was head over heels in love with, he cheated on pretty steadily, but still treated her well (APART from the cheating). When he finally decided to commit to me, I was thrilled and also felt like he wouldn't have bothered to commit if he didn't want to be in a relationship in the first place... I gave him the ultimatum in a way that made him lean towards the whole "if i'm going to date her, i'm going to go all in". Since then, I've felt like if he didn't want to be with me, he would just break up and then cheat. I am SO good to him- I do a lot for him, sometimes when I'm over I do his laundry, clean his house, and loan him my car on some days. He says he appreciates this, but our communication is not good. Every day I wake up and wonder when or if he'll contact me. Weekends are my biggest stress, because I feel like he wouldn't want to hang out with me and would rather hang out with his friends, so I feel super needy and stressed out asking him to hang on a Friday night or downright texting him and seeing what he is up to in the first place. We talked tonight and he told me he was happy and how pretty I looked last night when we were together. I have an app called Snapchat (for those of you who may not be aware of what it is) and it's basically a platform for sending pictures which automatically delete from your phone (you can only view them for 10 seconds). You can send them to people in your friends list, and you can see who your friends are snapchatting (it displays the top three names of the people they send photos to the most). Well, I just looked at my boyfriend's snapchat, and I noticed a familiar name. This one girl has popped up several times before on his snapchat best friends list, and I've initially become suspicious. Once, I confronted him casually about it when we were ON the subject, and he kind of avoided eye contact and said "oh that's weird..." and then changed the subject completely. I've heard about this girl's reputation as being a major slut (for lack of a better term), and she looks EXACTLY like the girl my boyfriend would go for if he were single. I can totally picture them sending each other inappropriate selfies, but I don't think he would go as far as cheating. I just have that feeling. When I see this, and then pair it with not hearing from him for the day, or feeling like I have to track him down and text him and stressing about seeming "needy", I totally feel like something's up. Granted, I've asked him if he wants to be in this relationship and if he's happy, and he always says yes.... in my opinion, I've given him plenty of opportunites to get out of it if he wants to. I just feel brushed to the side in terms of social priorities- and he really fluctuates. Some days, he's totally into me, and other days he's cold and doesn't make an effort to talk. I have severe anxiety and sometimes major depression thinking about what he does at night when I'm not around. I've known him as a single guy (we used to hook up) and he for sure made his rounds around town. This girl was also recently added in his facebook friends, which makes me all the more suspicious.
All this being said, Snapchat is a little wonky. They claim their best friends are updated by the people you send pictures to the most in the past 7 days. However, sometimes if you send a person a photo right before the servers update, it'll just throw them in the best friends category. I sent this guy ONE snapchat and he was in my best friends, just coincidentally because the servers updated and he was the first person I sent something to in the new cycle. My boyfriend's had this girl in his best friends list MULTIPLE times. I like to give him the benefit of the doubt and think it's just by this small chance that he's catching the server as it's re-updating, and he isn't snapchatting her a lot. A LOT of my guy friends are friends with her on facebook, but I have never heard about her from him at all. She definetly isn't a close friend of his. I don't usually see him texting her when we're together, and I don't really think he has time to cheat, and he lives with three other guys who happen to be my good friends so I feel like he'd feel guilty having them watch that. HOWEVER, I don't think it would stop him from sending innapropriate pictures with this girl.
I am trying to approach this in the most logical way possible and put aside my emotions. I'm no stranger to cheating boyfriends, and in times past I've always been right. I really like this guy, and don't want to freak him out or seem crazy at all. I have a tendency to focus way too much on him, obsess and sit around for hours waiting for him to contact me instead of taking care of myself. Part of me wants to say "so what... you're more attractive than her (which I am)....trust him and be done with it. The truth will surface eventually" but the other part of me wants to scream and cry every time I see her name under his best friends. If I confront him, he'll know I've looked at his name in particular, and it will definitely give the impression of the whole jealous girlfriend I'm stalking your social media accounts type of thing. But I also want to make it known that I'm aware of this and find it disrespectful. If he has a girlfriend, why should he be snapchatting this girl? I've never heard her name and I've met plenty of his girls who are friends. The last thing I want to do is push him away by showing that I care and that I've been keeping tabs on the girls he talks to- but snapchat essentially allows you to send pictures that are deleted in 10 seconds or less. I am so torn. Is it worth it to confront him? We have been dating for three months, and I think we are just nearing the end of the "honeymoon" stage, and he feels as though he doesn't need to talk to me as much or spend as much time with me as he does with his friends. He just tonight snapchatted me a video of himself inside a club and it upset me. I'm tempted to delete my account and forget about this all together, but I really like using it with my friends. I just don't know what to do. Am I blowing this up? Or is it actually suspicious? Should I confront him?
All this being said, Snapchat is a little wonky. They claim their best friends are updated by the people you send pictures to the most in the past 7 days. However, sometimes if you send a person a photo right before the servers update, it'll just throw them in the best friends category. I sent this guy ONE snapchat and he was in my best friends, just coincidentally because the servers updated and he was the first person I sent something to in the new cycle. My boyfriend's had this girl in his best friends list MULTIPLE times. I like to give him the benefit of the doubt and think it's just by this small chance that he's catching the server as it's re-updating, and he isn't snapchatting her a lot. A LOT of my guy friends are friends with her on facebook, but I have never heard about her from him at all. She definetly isn't a close friend of his. I don't usually see him texting her when we're together, and I don't really think he has time to cheat, and he lives with three other guys who happen to be my good friends so I feel like he'd feel guilty having them watch that. HOWEVER, I don't think it would stop him from sending innapropriate pictures with this girl.
I am trying to approach this in the most logical way possible and put aside my emotions. I'm no stranger to cheating boyfriends, and in times past I've always been right. I really like this guy, and don't want to freak him out or seem crazy at all. I have a tendency to focus way too much on him, obsess and sit around for hours waiting for him to contact me instead of taking care of myself. Part of me wants to say "so what... you're more attractive than her (which I am)....trust him and be done with it. The truth will surface eventually" but the other part of me wants to scream and cry every time I see her name under his best friends. If I confront him, he'll know I've looked at his name in particular, and it will definitely give the impression of the whole jealous girlfriend I'm stalking your social media accounts type of thing. But I also want to make it known that I'm aware of this and find it disrespectful. If he has a girlfriend, why should he be snapchatting this girl? I've never heard her name and I've met plenty of his girls who are friends. The last thing I want to do is push him away by showing that I care and that I've been keeping tabs on the girls he talks to- but snapchat essentially allows you to send pictures that are deleted in 10 seconds or less. I am so torn. Is it worth it to confront him? We have been dating for three months, and I think we are just nearing the end of the "honeymoon" stage, and he feels as though he doesn't need to talk to me as much or spend as much time with me as he does with his friends. He just tonight snapchatted me a video of himself inside a club and it upset me. I'm tempted to delete my account and forget about this all together, but I really like using it with my friends. I just don't know what to do. Am I blowing this up? Or is it actually suspicious? Should I confront him?
" I've felt like if he didn't want to be with me, he would just break up and then cheat. " Well, that's what cheating is, they don't break up with you, they fool around while being in a "relationship" with you, if he breaks up with you first is not cheating.
Maybe I lack faith in people, but IMO if he has been unfaithful to every single one of his past gf's, why should it be different with you? Why would he break up with you if you're so nice to him, even cleaning his place, and then he goes clubbing and forgets about you? I don't mean to be harsh, but it sounds like he's getting the best of both worlds.
I'm not sure if I believe in the whole "honeymoon stage", I am aware that at the beginning of a relationship everything seems to be perfect, I personally think 3 months is too little time for that to be over. and even if the honeymoon stage is indeed over, it doesn't justify the lack of communication or interest in you, that's something you have to work in through all the relationship, lately I keep remembering a quote from a movie, it said "being able to speak freely is the lifeblood of love" and I agree, if you can't talk about your fears with your boyfriend, isn't that a bad sign?
Again, maybe I am being too negative, but he doesn't sound like someone who's ready to have a serious relationship.
He isn't a faithful guy. And, when someone with a broken history like his has anything "sort of suspicious" going on, it probably IS what you think it is.
And, try not to assume this girl is a "major slut"...after you described your boyfriend's past, I would think the same term could apply to him.
Hes just not that into you.
1. Hes a serial cheater.
2. He doesnt seem interested in hanging out/talking/seeing you.
3. Youre self conscious about seeming needy.
4. Youre suspicious of his use of an app that basically SCREAMS "Cheat without getting caught! Go ahead and send those dirty pics to strange girls, well erase them for you so your girlfriend doesnt see em!"
5. You dont seem to be able to list any redeeming qualities to this relationship.
Bottom line: stop making excuses, open your eyes, and get a clue. This man is not commitment material. At least not right now.
Also, I just want to add, you can be the most beuatiful girl on the planet, it doesnt make you immune to being cheated on.
That having been said, I agree with the other posters. This guy is a serial cheater and he WILL cheat on you if he hasn't already. You knew this about him going into the relationship but pursued it anyway. In order to prevent getting more hurt than you are now, take a step back, look at the relationship as objectively as you can and determine how YOU are benefiting from it. It sounds like he tries to flatter you and tell you what you want to hear every now and again (probably at the times he want something from you), you are "SO good to him- I do a lot for him, sometimes when I'm over I do his laundry, clean his house, and loan him my car on some days" ... does he do any of these things for you? It sounds like a very unbalanced relationship and that he is a master of manipulation. He will give you just enough to keep you interested, play your emotions just right to get you to do things for him and put out when HE wants it, but doesn't communicate with you, doesn't spend quality time with you, evades and makes excuses when you ask about your concerns of his cheating. It doesn't sound like he is in a committed relationship with you. It sounds like he is playing you and stringing you along in order to get what he can out of the relationship before discarding you and moving on to the next easy mark.
My advise? ... dump him and move on.
You clean his place, do his laundry, loan him your car, He has it Made!
I say run far away from this dude.
That's not to say that HE is doing this, as I try not to assume anything in life. Past history is generally a pretty good indicator of future behavior....and I even say that with apprehension. Who knows, only him.
All I can say is...trust your gut. Don't make assumptions or take anything personally, but...trust your gut.
Hugs
I won't tell you to quit the relationship, because really - you sound like you know exactly what the skinny is. If you're this torn and twisted over this guy after only 3 months, it can't improve. I'm not saying he's a bad guy, but you know his character. Are you able to accept this?
Oops maybe not. Maybe it is for ppl w thick skins, one's who don't mind risking headaches.
Again. IMHO these social media, some more than others, often cause stress and some of us are trying to live low-stress lives.
g'luck :)
I'm sorry to hear that you've been cheated on before. Like I mentioned before that's something that should be explored for your own sake. I'd say take a break from this and from dating and explore that in order to prevent falling into a similar pattern and putting yourself last. Cleaning, doing laundry, looking after someone is very self-less and sweet, however when has he taken the time to make that same level of effort for you? Considering that he doesn't automatically text you for the weekend shows that the level of effort he puts in is undeservingly low. A guy should be falling over himself trying to please and impress you... not treating you as unimportant.
You deserve to be in an accepting place, a place of growth and one where you put yourself first in order to attract people who will mutually do that with you. Try reading about low self esteem and low standards and see how this situation no longer has to define you and your overall worth.
I wish you the best of luck and hope you will start putting yourself first instead of waiting in vain for someone else to.
Good luck to you :)