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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

My GF wants to keep seeing friend she dated and kissed

85 replies

Joeyjoejoe · 07/09/2024 05:06

We have been dating for a year and it's been rocky from the start. She cheated on me earlier in the year with a guy she met at the bar where she liked to go and play pool, insisting for months that I had nothing to worry about when I expressed my concerns. After I found out, she continued to secretly see this guy for another month before she finally stopped. There's a lot more messed up behavior about this period that I'll leave out.

Fast forward to a months ago, we didn't officially get back together but we've basically been acting like a couple for the last six months. I met a girl, hit it off, and we dated for a week (two dates) but found we had ideological differences that were't compatible and she found out she was moving far away and that was pretty much the end of that. I barely really got to know her and we didn't do anything physical. It really upset my ex, but I told her I had to at least try and move on. She messaged me constantly during that week telling me she loves only me and doesn't want to be with anyone else.

The week after things ended with my date, my ex tells me she's dating a guy. They met 6 days in a row and they made out (that's as much as she'll tell me). I thought "Wow, what happened to 'you want only me'".

She stopped seeing after he turned her down because a vision he had told him she wasn't the one, and we got back together the next week.

That's the context. My issue is that we both want to keep in touch with the people we dated. She sees this dude every weekend at the markets and they have coffee. At first I thought it this was unplanned,but I found out later she had been messaging him to organize it. They also go to church together every Sunday. I haven't seen my date in over a month, and we message irregularly.

I don't want her to keep seeing her dude because they obviously had a much more intense dating experience and she kissed him multiple times, and the only reason she didn't keep dating him was because he had some BS dream that could change any minute. And they're still seeing each other every week! Compared to my situation, we went on two dates, held hands once, and were both adult enough to know a relationship wouldn't work with our opposing views. We're just friends. She swears there's nothing going on, "they have boundaries" (what a relief), and she wants to be able to have friends. I'm also being controlling and need to see a therapist for my jealousy. Her female friend agrees with her.

We talked about it and how it's a boundary for me, and she can choose friends with this guy or a relationship with me. She apparently understood that our situations are different and I should be able to keep in contact with my female friend. She agreed to stop meeting with the guy outside of Church and that was that. Queue last week, she messages me at 9pm saying she wants to have coffee with the guy in the morning, she's already messaged him about it, and I can't stop her having friends.

Am I being a hypocrite by putting my foot down and saying she can't go out of her way to keep seeing this guy while I keep in contact with my friend? Happy to give more detail if needed.

tl:dr Gf and I broke up briefly and dated other people. She kissed him and had 6 dates, he broke it off after having a "vision". I held hands and went on two, and we stopped because of differing beliefs. She organizes to see her date regularly and has constant contact, I haven't seen mine but we message sometimes. We both want to keep being friends with our dates, and I don't want her to keep seeing hers. She agreed to stop seeing him, and then broke that agreement. Am I a hypocrite? Any advice or thoughts please.

OP posts:
Underlig · 07/09/2024 07:20

This all sounds too dramatic, controlling and immature.

I see my ex every week. We go for a walk and have coffee. We go to each other’s houses. We were boyfriend/girlfriend at university and broke up then too. We are now in our late 50s. There was a period where we didn’t see much of each other at all, but we were always in contact.

Dery · 07/09/2024 07:27

Yes, it’s hypocritical of you to say you can see the woman you dated because all you did was hold hands but she can’t see the guy she dated because she kissed him.

But frankly as PP have said, why are you and your GF even seeing each other? There’s so much chaos and drama; it sounds totally dysfunctional. You’re clearly wrong for each other.

BreatheAndFocus · 07/09/2024 07:31

Why are you together? Neither of you sounds invested in the relationship - her less than you. You seem like a fallback for when her other relationship attempts fail. Have some self-respect and find someone else.

BananaGrapeMelon · 07/09/2024 07:33

As others have said, you don't get to dictate your partner's behaviour- that's up to her. You do get to communicate your own boundaries and decide when to end the relationship.

DinosaurMunch · 07/09/2024 07:46

You're a teenage boy and people on here are advising you from the perspective of 40 or 50 year old women - I don't think it's relevant advice really.

At an early stage of a new relationship you should just be enjoying your time together - it isn't a matter of who's right and wrong or making rules for each other about who you can see and why. If it isn't working then call it a day.

I don't think most people would be happy with their partner continuing to regularly see someone they had a thing with in the circumstances you describe. It's not about trust - as someone who would do that can't be trusted and doesn't value your relationship. ( I also don't see why you're so keen to keep seeing someone you barely know). However you can't stop your girlfriend doing it so the right response is to split up, not to try to control her behaviour.

Elektra1 · 07/09/2024 07:47

Neither of you sounds at all committed to your relationship, which seems to be something of a "plan B" for both of you when other things with other people don't work out. That's where the suspicion/lack of trust comes from.

I'd leave it with this girl/woman and just date other people or be single until you find someone you really like, who is equally into you, and with whom you can build trust.

Luio · 07/09/2024 07:58

You need to move on and be with someone who likes you as much as you like them. She cheated on you with the bar guy but you are still hanging around trying to negotiate relationship boundaries.

AgnesX · 07/09/2024 08:01

Relationships are meant to be fun, this one isn't. It sounds like hard work, not least because you're not suited which is evident by your interest in other people ( both of you).

Cut your losses and move on.

Justsayit123 · 07/09/2024 08:06

This is a doomed relationship. Break up..

Gonk123 · 07/09/2024 08:31

You dont belong together. It’s that simple. You have barely been together, you have been seen other people in the midst of whatever it is going on between you, fall outs, separations…wow…in a year! Move on… and yes you are a hypocrite!

Joeyjoejoe · 07/09/2024 08:45

GiddyRobin · 07/09/2024 05:52

Clearly. Because you're an insecure little man with control issues. Why don't you try Reddit? Plenty of incels over there who'll give you the answers you want.

I'm really not sure where all your aggression is coming from, there's no need for insults. I posted here to get advice, but I also need to understand that advice for it to be useful. Sorry if I posted anything to offend you, and thanks for your input 🙏

OP posts:
Joeyjoejoe · 07/09/2024 08:52

DinosaurMunch · 07/09/2024 07:46

You're a teenage boy and people on here are advising you from the perspective of 40 or 50 year old women - I don't think it's relevant advice really.

At an early stage of a new relationship you should just be enjoying your time together - it isn't a matter of who's right and wrong or making rules for each other about who you can see and why. If it isn't working then call it a day.

I don't think most people would be happy with their partner continuing to regularly see someone they had a thing with in the circumstances you describe. It's not about trust - as someone who would do that can't be trusted and doesn't value your relationship. ( I also don't see why you're so keen to keep seeing someone you barely know). However you can't stop your girlfriend doing it so the right response is to split up, not to try to control her behaviour.

Thanks for your honest reply. I also don't think most people would be comfortable with the situation, even without past infidelity. We both have friends of the opposite sex, and it's not an issue. This is a specific situation and the context matters.

We stayed together because we love each other and were about to move in together right before she cheated on me. She agreed to having boundaries, but doesn't seem to stick to them (which is something that happened during the cheating period, and that's why I'm so sensitive about it).

Our situations are so different, I'm having a hard time understanding why people think I'm being hypocritical and controlling. Maybe it's not being explained properly. Would it be more acceptable if I cut off all contact with my friend and she did the same? Or is that still controlling?

OP posts:
HappyToSmile · 07/09/2024 09:00

You've set a boundary, "continue seeing him and we are done". She has continued seeing him. It is down to YOU to keep that boundary. Boundaries are made for yourself.
Yes you are a hypocrite.
You can be friends with people you've had sex or just kissed. Just as you can be more emotionally involved with someone you've never kissed.
If she cheated on you before and you can't forgive/trust her after that, then end it. Relationships are meant to be nice, not "rocky" and full of drama.

Uricon2 · 07/09/2024 09:00

"it's been rocky from the start".

This is actually the "pertinent" bit. From your description it is an infantile relationship and from her side at least, totally uncommitted. Even if her "ex" dematerialised, it would still be so.

GreyCarpet · 07/09/2024 09:04

Joeyjoejoe · 07/09/2024 08:45

I'm really not sure where all your aggression is coming from, there's no need for insults. I posted here to get advice, but I also need to understand that advice for it to be useful. Sorry if I posted anything to offend you, and thanks for your input 🙏

How old are you and what is it about the advice you don't understand?

I also suspect you're a teenager but this woman cheated on you with a man in a bar so I'm also guessing you're not a 15 year old in their first relationship.

I suspect the perspective of someone who lost touch with a university boyfriend and rekindled a friendship years later isn't relevant to you so your age is relevant.

But it is true that you're asking on a forum that is largely populated by women in their 30s-60s. And, tbh, as much as I said I wouldn't want a relationship with a man who had a close friendship with an ex, I meant an actual ex partner.

I've been with my partner for 3 years. We both have opposite sex friends that have lasted for 20+ years. I neither know nor care whether he has ever been on a couple of dates with any of them, or whether they only held hands or whether they kissed. Because those aren't actual exes and it's irrelevant.

My partner's best friend actually married a girl he dated for 6 weeks in 6th form. They're all friends and it's not an issue for anyone.

The fact you only held hands with someone but she kissed someone is not important. The fact she cheated on you and the relationship has been rocky from the start is.

I also don't think most people would be comfortable with the situation

I don't think most people would find themselves in this situation because they'd have ended out at the cheating part or realised an on/off relationship of a year probably wasn't going anywhere.

But I don't think most people would care about a friendship with someone a partner had been on a few dates with and kissed. Unless the whole relationship was rocky to begin with and it pointed to longer term problems in the future (which is where I think you are).

Singleandproud · 07/09/2024 09:07

You ask people if they would be happy for their husbands to still see an ex - but you aren't a husband, you are barely a boyfriend.

What exactly is going for this relationship?
You've been together for a year but have actually broken up and been seeing other people
She cheated on you at the start - did she cheat or were you two not exclusive in her eyes.
You have both dated other people
What exactly do you do that makes you a couple, just hang out and have sex occasionally?

This relationship has no future whatsoever, if you want a committed relationship then you have to start afresh with someone new. The trust in this one is gone and you don't like her decision making process. If this relationship was going to be a success you would have been in the honeymoon period, only having eyes for each other.

As for whether it's ok to be friends with an ex, sure it is. You don't have to like that decision though and that is as good a reason as any to end a relationship.
The people you and your ex 'dated' hardly come under Ex territory, more of a brief dalliance. In fact YOU barely fit in the Ex category your relationship has been so brief and off/on again.

Joeyjoejoe · 07/09/2024 09:16

LittleMousewithcloggson · 07/09/2024 06:29

When I was in my 20s I had a years relationship with a lovely guy. Fancied him like anything and we had a great sexual relationship
We wanted different things in life so split amicably but he became my best friend.
We saw each other regularly still and he is part of my life
I married and he is godfather to our eldest.
My husband knows our background and knows I see him every couple of weeks for coffee/dinner/cinema as a friend
Do I still think he is gorgeous - yes
Would I sleep with him or kiss him sexually - no
Do I hug him hello and goodbye and kiss him on the cheek - yes
My husband is fine with this because he trusts me and that’s what it comes down to.
You can’t force someone to be with you and you don’t own them
If you don’t trust her to be with this man then there is an issue with either you or your relationship
If the issue is your relationship then is over. If it’s you then that’s fine, it’s who you are, but let her go and let her be who she is. Find someone that shares your beliefs about no regular contact with ex lovers.

So you in a year long relationship and both agreed a relationship would never work? I think that's the important part. My gf and the guy she date would still be together if he didn't break it off for mystical reasons.

I think people are getting the wrong idea. We are both in contact with exes, there's no issue with that.

OP posts:
GreyCarpet · 07/09/2024 09:16

Would it be more acceptable if I cut off all contact with my friend and she did the same? Or is that still controlling?

If it was a mutual decision agreed at the end of a respectful conversation and accompanied a commitment to stop dicking around with other people and prioritise and focus on your relationship - effectively drawing a line under the past and starting again - then, no, that wouldn't be controlling.

If it is presented as, 'I won't see the woman I dated as friends if you don't see the man you dated as friends" that is manipulative and so, yes, still controlling.

But I don't think this relationship is worth that. The insecurity will remain because you don't trust her. There will always be a man, a male friend, a colleague... and if you don't trust her now, you never will.

GreyCarpet · 07/09/2024 09:18

I think people are getting the wrong idea. We are both in contact with exes, there's no issue with that.

People can only respond to what you have posted.

So what is the issue?

If you have no problem with being friends with exes, why does it matter that she kissed someone whilst you only held hands with someone?

Joeyjoejoe · 07/09/2024 09:22

GreyCarpet · 07/09/2024 09:18

I think people are getting the wrong idea. We are both in contact with exes, there's no issue with that.

People can only respond to what you have posted.

So what is the issue?

If you have no problem with being friends with exes, why does it matter that she kissed someone whilst you only held hands with someone?

Thanks for your replies. Thing is, we had a respectful discussion about it and she went behind my back and saw him anyway. It's quite triggering for me because this is what she did when she was cheating on me.

The issues are the amount of time they spend together for such a fresh relationship, the fact they kissed, have plenty in common, and would otherwise still be together if he hadn't had a dream telling him not too (something that could change at any moment). If she had an experience the same as mine (disagreed on core beliefs, and wasn't physically intimate) then I'd have no issue.

OP posts:
DrinkFeckArseBrick · 07/09/2024 09:38

Not the question you asked but I don't think this relationship is good for either of you. In the first 12 months you should generally be wanting to spend all your time together and not thinking about others. The fact you've both considered other people in this time shows that this relationship is very unlikely to work out, so I think it would be best to cut your losses and leave now

GreyCarpet · 07/09/2024 09:39

Joeyjoejoe · 07/09/2024 09:22

Thanks for your replies. Thing is, we had a respectful discussion about it and she went behind my back and saw him anyway. It's quite triggering for me because this is what she did when she was cheating on me.

The issues are the amount of time they spend together for such a fresh relationship, the fact they kissed, have plenty in common, and would otherwise still be together if he hadn't had a dream telling him not too (something that could change at any moment). If she had an experience the same as mine (disagreed on core beliefs, and wasn't physically intimate) then I'd have no issue.

Well, your summary just says to me that you shouldn't be in a relationship with her.

She cheated on you

You feel insecure both because of this and because you really believe she'd still be with him if he hadn't ended it and attributed it to a dream he had.

So you feel your position in her life is insecure because, quite frankly, it is.

You believe you will feel more secure if she doesn't see him again but, if she still has feelings for him, that won't change just because she doesn't see him and is more important than any physical acts between them.

Relationships exist within the space between people and that is where you feel insecure - within that space. He is irrelevant.

I picture people in relationships as being connected by invisible elastic. You have the freedom to move and live and be friends with others because the two of you are still connected by the elastic. It's how you can be on the opposite side of the same room as, or on the other side of the world to, your partner and still feel that you're 'together'.

But if the elastic snaps or is cut (eg by infideltiy) it doesn't work anymore and you're essentially just two separate people going through life in the same place and time. And it feels very different. And it isn't a relationship.

Bramblejell · 07/09/2024 09:43

Uricon2 · 07/09/2024 09:00

"it's been rocky from the start".

This is actually the "pertinent" bit. From your description it is an infantile relationship and from her side at least, totally uncommitted. Even if her "ex" dematerialised, it would still be so.

This.

LostTheMarble · 07/09/2024 09:54

GiddyRobin · 07/09/2024 05:31

Because there's no real difference. She "made out" with someone. You didn't. Big fucking wow. I'm assuming you're a teenager if you're still getting so hung up over a bit of kissing.

Either way, it doesn't matter. She's not with him anymore. You don't get to assume how she feels about him. Personally, I think it's bizarre that you're swapping personal information like this anyway. Who goes into detail about their encounters with other partners? But in this case she has told you, and it's up to you whether you stay or not, but you cannot stop her from being friends with him especially when you're friends with your ex.

As for partners exes - I'm very good friends with my husband's ex partner. She and I do drinks and dinner every few months. I couldn't care less that they used to sleep together, she's lovely. I'm also very happy for her and him to be friends, too.

Found the Cool Wife…

OP, this is a no go. Just walk away and enjoy your youth without drama.

stayathomer · 07/09/2024 09:54

Would you still be ok if your husband kept seeing his ex every week, just the two of them?
Op gigantic difference between what you and gf have and two people in a long term committed relationship but if people are in a long term committed relationship they trust each other. Best of luck