Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Was this my fault??

73 replies

ellbell1995 · 22/06/2022 16:44

Brace yourselves for a long one. I need advice on whether this is me or him.

My boyfriend split with me this morning. It was a very hasty decision and told me he was done, and he left me to go to work.

Things the last few months haven’t been great. We had a big drunken bust up 3 months ago where he panicked. In our silly drunk state he left, took some space and 3 days later he decided he wanted to be with me.

Since then, it’s been so hard. I’ve felt since then I’ve found it hard to trust whether or not he will stay.

He’s tried hard to reassure me, and says all the right things, but I’ve felt his energy has been slightly off. He doesn’t say the loving things he used to - unless I do or ask for them. Also:

he used to show show much enthusiasm and says “can do” rather than “yes!” Or no.

he calls me on his lunch but doesn’t talk much and sometimes leaves me while he makes his lunch (his mum even made a comment once saying I was left on the phone)
he doesn’t text me when he’s out anymore and I didn’t know what his plans were, even though we’ve always been big on this sort of communication.

he booked us a holiday, but it took me bringing it up multiple times

But he always reassured me that things are perfect and that I didn’t need to worry. 100% perfect and he’s not going anywhere. Some people tell me I’m being too picky, others say it’s not me.

I moved in with him and his parents last week while we save for a deposit. The last few weeks have been hard but he reassured me this is exactly what he wants and he’s so ready and committed.

Until last night, where I told him I felt everything was off and I was worried. He said he felt tired and drained, like the relationship wasnt good at the moment. He said he is very happy with me, but not when we argue. He said we don’t seem happy when we are together anymore. I got upset, I didn’t want to sleep on it, but he did. It spilled into this morning where he rejected me when we were supposed to go on a bike ride. He then flipped and said he was tired of me, done forever, and left.

It’s so hard because I think we are so good together. He’s lovely and does try his best but his communication is terrible. He had a horrible ex and he now assumes any sort of conflict is an argument.

I think it’s part of the reason why we’ve been arguing so long - he will reassure me, then he won’t actually talk to think about how we can change things, he just goes silent and runs away.

The other day on the train we were running late for a meal. I suggested we call them and tell them, he said no because it’ll be fine, I said I’d call them anyway. I then told him “well it’s a good thing we did call, because they’re saving our table, and they might not let us do walk-ins”. He then got upset, said I was having a go at him on the train and humiliated him. Then just gave me the silent treatment.

I feel like I’m the only one who ever wants to think of a solution.

He also told me to cheer up after I got stressed looking for a lost item, he didn’t just joke about it, then got pissed off because we were “arguing” again.

I feel like I’ve been walking on eggshells since the last breakup. I feel pressure to be the perfect girlfriend, to never talk about how I feel. And if I do he gets defensive, even though he has seemed off. I’m not perfect, I do probably talk about things way too much and I probably am draining and over sensitive. But I really don’t know what to do next.

I have to go over to get my stuff so either way we have to talk tonight.

OP posts:
Tamarin456 · 23/06/2022 06:35

Walk away, this is not how a relationship is supposed to be. He’s not that into you,

ellbell1995 · 23/06/2022 07:16

I think it’s my fault because of the nit picking. I worry and believe so much that someone is going to leave me that I end up making it happen.
I feel so awful reading through some old texts. He was so loving and supportive and it still wasn’t enough, I moaned every day about something.

Mind you, his reaction to the break up tells me everything i guess. Not even two days ago he said “I’m not going anywhere”

OP posts:
RedHelenB · 23/06/2022 07:39

ellbell1995 · 22/06/2022 16:51

26 believe it or not. First serious relationship though

You sound a bit intense from your post and would do my head in. When it's right you'll know, you can't force these things else you'll both be unhappy

PlattyJoobz · 23/06/2022 07:49

What was the big drunken bust up about?

Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 23/06/2022 08:02

You come across as very draining tbh. It obviously wasn't the right relationship. He may have simply thought it isn't working after the breakup, which is why he changed his attitude. It clearly doesn't work.

ellbell1995 · 23/06/2022 08:09

The drunken bust up was the night before my birthday I don’t remember very well. We were out on a lovely evening and we were very drunk - I then got a very unwelcome happy birthday text on my phone from someone who I used to “see”. I replied saying thanks but then he got inappropriate so I blocked him.
Boyfriend got upset, asking why I replied, asking if I’ve been cheating etc. I got very upset and I don’t remember this very well but I cried and cried. I have very low self esteem, felt sad I’d ruined his night and hit my head with a pillow.

Next thing I know he’s left my flat, called his parents and got taken home, left me on my own sobbing.
Next morning (my birthday) I drive to his and he refuses to talk to me, stares into space and says “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t unsee what I saw”. Then said he was unsure and left me for 3 days waiting.

This is why I’m terrified it’s my fault - I can be very over analytical and I guess draining.

OP posts:
ellbell1995 · 23/06/2022 08:35

I am hurting so much

OP posts:
thrashingbo · 23/06/2022 08:36

It sounds like he's done you a massive favour by ending a relationship that wasn't working.

It's not very helpful to focus on 'fault' - you yourself admit you have some quite dysfunctional behaviour. Now you have time and space to see a therapist and deal with that. You're only 26.

This will sound harsh but if you don't tackle these issues you have then you won't ever be in a happy, equitable relationship. Decent men will leave, and the only ones who stay will be those with - at best - really dysfunctional behaviours of their own, at worst who are abusive and see you as an easy target.

Take the time to work on yourself.

ellbell1995 · 23/06/2022 08:54

This is why it hurts so much i feel like I finally met a decent, patient man and I ruined it myself

OP posts:
PlattyJoobz · 23/06/2022 08:59

You really didn’t meet a decent patient man, far from it.

He runs home to mother’s bosom at the drop of a hat. He seems especially quick to escalate any issue.

You are better off without him. It hurts today, but every day it gets easier I promise.

Theredfoxfliesatmidnight · 23/06/2022 08:59

I'm so sorry you're feeling so awful, and that he's gone. I know it doesn't feel like it now but he probably has made the right decision, as you both weren't getting along and it sounds like there was a lot of complication and drama for this relatively early stage in your relationship. It sounds like moving in was a bit "make or break" and it didn't work out.

I don't think it was your fault, but you could probably work on trying to be a little less needy - for you, as well as any future partner! Sitting on the phone waiting whilst somebody makes their lunch is a bit odd - surely once somebody says I'm going to make my lunch you say OK, enjoy, bye, not just wait indefinitely in silience on the other end of the line. I imagine that sort of thing might have put the pressure on a bit?

5128gap · 23/06/2022 09:00

His feelings towards you have cooled and its started a viscious circle of you running after him asking for reassurance and him pulling away. He sounds suffocated and irritated and like he wants out. He probably does love you at a level but the relationship isn't right for either of you.

CharSiu · 23/06/2022 09:31

I agree with what @5128gap has written.

I had a lovely BF when I was in my mid twenties and I was his first proper relationship. But the reassurances he needed all the time were so unbelievably draining I just couldn’t handle it. We were both writing up dissertations at the time and he just wouldn’t leave me alone. When we broke up he pleaded with me to stay. I had to be really tough with him because he still hoped it would continue. His tough approach may be just like how I was because I didn’t want to encourage my ex at all. He turned up at my workplace and my housemates saw him drive past the house a few times. It came to a head because we were both close to graduating and he wanted us to live together, we had been together almost 18 months, he even offered to pay for absolutely everything as had landed a pretty amazing job. There was no way we could stay in touch.

ellbell1995 · 23/06/2022 09:39

I think this is where it hurts the most, knowing I could’ve behaved so much better and pushed him away

OP posts:
Watchkeys · 23/06/2022 09:46

I think that all this self blame is very unhealthy. If you'd been in a relationship with a compatible partner, you wouldn't have behaved the way you did.

ellbell1995 · 23/06/2022 09:53

I guess not, and regardless of whether it was my fault the way he behaved hurt so much too.
in the morning he said he was done and said “I’m finished, once I’m out that door it’s done. Move out my way, I need to go to work”. Left me in his parents house to then go to work in bits. I had to go back to get my stuff and he actually refused to talk to me until his mum told him he had to.

I then collected my own stuff and left

OP posts:
Watchkeys · 23/06/2022 10:09

He's not coming across as Mr Perfect, you know, OP. Certainly he hasn't behaved in a 'decent, patient' way in ending the relationship. He's not even being caring.

I had a partner once who was very sweet and loving, but didn't listen to me, talked over me etc. My behaviour around that person was awful, but in the end I had to recognise that everybody behaves badly if they insist on spending time with people who wind them up. It doesn't matter who's right/wrong/good/bad. All that matters is that if you find yourself behaving strangely around someone, you need to stay away from that someone. That's the lesson here for you. How you behaved is fine (unless you did anything illegal). Anything goes. But learn not to be around people you behave weirdly with.

Do you behave like that around anybody else?

amicissimma · 23/06/2022 10:15

I don't think 'fault' is a helpful concept here.

It just looks like the two of you aren't right for a relationship with each other and both of you would be happier in a relationship with someone else.

ellbell1995 · 23/06/2022 13:03

I guess it was hard for me to pinpoint why my gut was constantly screaming at me. Yeah I am an anxious person but surely that’s not normal. It’s hard to know because he did come across very kind and loving

OP posts:
Watchkeys · 23/06/2022 13:29

hard for me to pinpoint why my gut was constantly screaming at me

Sometimes you don't know why. Sometimes you never work it out. But when people talk about 'self respect', that's the bit of you that you need to respect. You need to have an attitude that says 'OK, that's how I feel. I don't know why, I just know I need to be elsewhere from the cause of that feeling' That's what self respect is: respecting the natural response you have to things.

There really don't have to be so many questions. If you're uncomfortable, pull away. That's all there is to it. You might end up seeing patterns (like 'I always pull away from people who talk over me' etc, but you don't have to understand, for it to be effective. You just have to accept how you feel, and respond with decency towards that feeling, rather than saying things to yourself that you'd never say to other people, like 'What's wrong with you, that you feel this way?'

ellbell1995 · 23/06/2022 15:30

Thank you ❤️

OP posts:
VapeVamp12 · 23/06/2022 15:52

I think it sounds like much too much hard work for only being a year in. Cut your losses

TokyoTen · 23/06/2022 16:13

Have read and re-read your OP it seems like you are at different points in your life - or at least not on the same page. He seems to be more carefree, wants no hassles, free to just go with it; you seems to want more planning and to know where you are with things.

Perhaps at this point in your life he is not the one. Perhaps call it a day and move on?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread