Earlier this year I bumped into a guy I had know in my mid to late teens, he was a friend of my then boyfriends older brother. I had always thought he was such a lovely gentle guy but at that time I had no romantic interest in him nor he I. I had got to know him a bit as we often when to see bands all in a big group or we'd go camping together etc.
When I was 18 my then boyfriend dumped me, at the time I was devastated as we had been together for 2 and a half years but really in just a few months I had moved on as you do at that age and I could quickly see that I deserved a lot better than how he had treated me. It transpired that my ex had dumped me because he liked another girl he regarded as cooler and better looking but when that fell through he tried to pick back up with me. I was already seeing someone else. Over the next two years (we were both students at the same uni although he was ahead of me by a year) he kept trying to get back with me until one time I spelled it out for him to stop asking because I would never go back out with him and while I said we could be friends my patience even for that was wearing thin. He then got really angry and shouted that I had become a total bitch and that I used to be so nice and he stormed off. Later that year he dropped out of uni due to his mental health and I haven't seen him since or when I have I have avoided him.
Anyway I graduated in 2019 and recently bumped into this guy I used to know though my ex. We ended up going for a cup of tea together and it was so nice to see him and catch up it also felt like we were more on the same level that it did when I knew him last. I mentioned wanting to see an exhibition in another town and he wanted to see it too so we ended up arranging to go together and we had a great day and we have just kept seeing each other just as friends at first but pretty quickly as something more than friends. We just really click and he's by far the nicest man I've ever been out with plus he's smart and funny and very attractive. He was in a house fire as a child and has some scarring which I think he has always been self conscious of and has perhaps made it difficult for him to open up to women but I already knew about them and had seen them so luckily it didn't affect us getting to know each other.
He recently told his friend (my ex's brother) that we are in a relationship and his friend is cool with it but my ex has really kicked off saying its not right for various reasons that its not cool for us to see each other because it hurts him or because my new guy knew me when I was 16 and he was in his early 20's and that it's just weird for us to be together now. My ex has been in both our socials giving us grief but is now blocked. My new boyfriend apparently told my ex at the time that he was an idiot for dumping me, personally I am glad he did dump me but I understand what he is trying to say but my ex is using that as ammo to say that the new guy had a thing for me when I was 16 - 18 which I really don't think is true, he just thought I was nice and a decent person.
I don't think I am in the wrong to pursue this relationship, both myself and my ex have had other relationships in the many years since we were last together, he has dated other girls that I know and it didn't bother me except to think the girls were getting a raw deal, the ex isn't an awful person but he's not a great boyfriend and still has a ton of growing up to do. However he is making a bit of a scene amongst their friendship group and I just think he is way out of line but I am posting here to see if anyone thinks he does have a point? Am I being unreasonable to think that I should be able to pursue this relationship without having to deal with his shenanigans?