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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

BF was unfaithful couple of years ago. Need some motherly advice

33 replies

SMT97 · 14/09/2021 09:15

Hi,

I’m not quite sure what kind of response I am expecting writing on this, but I’m just looking for a place to write my feelings out and some motherly love.

I am 24 years old and to say I have had a rollercoaster few years is an understatement. I have grown up with a mother with severe PTSD who often heavily relied on alcohol and prescription drugs. When I finished I finished my undergraduate back in 2018 things began to spiral out of control, I moved out today start my MSc but would go home to help my dad out and work at weekends.
I’d recently come out of a relationship but during this time I met my BF. I didn’t think much during the dating phase but it was very quick that we had a lot in common and had great chemistry. As things became worse with my mom, my boyfriend became my rock - he would come visit me at uni (I lived in a house share with locals), support me emotionally, would come pick me up when things were tough at home (we often had police and ambulances come to the house), go on weekends away with each other, came to my MSc graduation with my dad and now his family basically became my new family who I love to pieces.
The last year has been exceptionally hard despite lockdown. My mother passed away the day before lockdown 2 due to MH. My BF has been amazing through all of this and was always by my side from visiting funeral directors to accompanying me and my dad in the private aspects of the funeral. Not long afterwards he asked me to move in and we spent lockdown three together. Things were as good as they could be, I had my days but BF would give so much love and support, he would even write these things down so I could re read them.

However after his first rugby social back this year, BF was incredibly drunk and suddenly became really apologetic that I didn’t deserve him. I didn’t think much to it and slept on it. The next day I asked what was going on and he admitted to drunkenly kissing a girl he knew in a taxi after a night out when we were only a few months official. I was shocked and so upset obviously. I took some time out to go visit my dad back in Scotland to gather my thoughts and not talk to BF. When I came home, he was clearly upset saying things like, ‘all he wants to do is make me happy, he didn’t realise back then how special I was to him etc, and he can’t imagine his life without me etc’. I’m quite emotionally void to chats like this due to my upbringing but I could clearly see how upset he was (not as in I’ve just been caught out upset).

As I said I don’t really know what I am looking for on here but I don’t have many people to ask for advice with. I know a drunken kiss isn’t grand in the large scale of things and I understand the your young and not tied down with a house or kids comments but i have been through this emotional journey with him which makes it harder. I feel so hurt that someone who has been my rock would do this and not tell me (he said he knew what he did was wrong, it was one mistake and didn’t want to throw away what we have).

It’s been a few months since I found out. I delayed my response as his Nan passed away not long after and I wanted there to be no emotion affecting me. Nonetheless, I said I would forgive him once. He had completely changed since we first met, i.e became more caring, down to earth, doesn’t go out after rugby etc and had since gone above and beyond to show me how much I mean to him. But I still feel so broken, like this year has been one thing after another and I get paranoid now if it wasn’t just the once. I’m going through counselling myself now which has reopened all of the wounds from the last few years. I feel as if I have become completely closed in on myself again.
As I am quite an interview person I think I looking for someone to say I’m not being stupid for staying and things will get better cause at the moment I feel horrible and still working from home doesn’t help me at all. Lots of love

OP posts:
Edmontine · 14/09/2021 09:22

I’m sorry, I don’t have the patience to read such a long opening post.

But from what I gather, you’re 24, you don’t have children with this man, and you’re not married. (As you say!) If the relationship is this stressful, walk away and get on with your life.

SMT97 · 14/09/2021 09:26

Thankyou, I knew I would get that response. It’s not a stressful relationship at all. It’s more like I don’t know where my head is at as I’m still trying to get over all of the events from the last year

OP posts:
PlanDeRaccordement · 14/09/2021 09:37

I read your whole post. I had similar early on with my DH when we were bf/gf. We went to a New Years party and I saw him drunkenly kiss a girl. Our friends saw him too and were pitying me and giving him hell.

I forgave him, we married 27yrs ago and he’s never had an affair, we are very happy and have had wonderful time raising our family.

I think as it was early on, and you are so young, it can be forgivable. It is good he confessed because it was obviously causing him guilt and he felt you should know the truth. Most cheaters refuse to admit it even when presented with evidence or defend themselves by blaming you. Your bf hasn’t done that from what I see. He counts himself as responsible and stupid for making such a mistake.

The thing to also keep in mind is that no one is perfect. We are all human and make mistakes. If you weigh that one mistake versus all the good in the relationship, what do you get? If he’s overall good for you then I wouldn’t dump him over a single drunken kiss.

DoesHePlayTheFiddle · 14/09/2021 09:42

Motherly advice... walk away, now.

Don't get tied down to a man who takes the first opportunity to 'go for' another woman. It starts with a kiss. He gets away with that. A kiss and a grope. Then sex - oh, girlfriend will never know, she'll believe it was just a kiss.

Don't.

SometimesMaybe · 14/09/2021 09:43

I think something like that is forgivable, especially as there is no indication that this was a regular occurrence and that all his other behaviour is exemplary.

However, given your background and needs in a relationship it may be that unfortunately you cannot forgive (and forget). Only you can decide - would individual counseling work to talk through some of the issues that you have highlight with your mum and the crossover to your relationship?

And your opening post wasn’t too long, I read it all.

MushroomQueen · 14/09/2021 09:45

My oh kissed an ex in our early relationship (first 5 months) I hit him over the head with my handbag and went out that night and kissed a guy friend. Not suggesting you do anything like that obviously. But we've since been together for 14 years and never cheated again. It sounds like a stupid hurtful thing happened but I'm not sure I'd write it off.

Icepinkeskimo · 14/09/2021 09:46

OP, you have really been through the mill haven't you? So many situations and events going on in your life, and you have been a real trooper.
Can I suggest that your priority right now is yourself? Be kind to yourself and everything else can wait. You need some 'healing' time and there is no time limit to that.
I hate to say it but the last 18 months have been traumatic for so many people, and our mental well-being should be absolutely come first. This compounded with situations that were existing before, can make us feel flatter than a pancake.
Don't make any decision regarding your boyfriend until you feel ready, and do this in your own time
Thanks

EvenMoreFuriousVexation · 14/09/2021 09:46

Very helpful first reply 🙄

OP you've been through so much the last couple of years and you're currently going through therapy, which is very difficult and requires great emotional courage and hard work. It's totally normal during therapy to feel you have no emotional resources left over for anything else, so shutting down and closing yourself off is a protective instinct.

You do not need to make any decisions about your relationship right now. Its okay to put this issue in a "holding pen" for now, until you feel like you're in the right frame of mind to address it. And it may well be that during your therapy, your perspective naturally changes one way or the other.

You originally told your bf that you could forgive him, just this once. You are allowed to be upset and disappointed and angry despite deciding to forgive it. Forgiving someone doesn't give them a "get out of jail free" card - they still have to deal with the consequences of their behaviour. And those consequences include your feelings. Equally, if you've chosen to continue the relationship, there is a point at which you have to let go of those feelings. If you are still holding onto them years later and you use them to punish him during arguments etc, that's unhealthy for both of you.

You are also allowed to change your mind and leave, if you decide you can't get past this. You're not obligated to stay with him because you initially said you would. It's okay to leave if that's what you want.

Fwiw, from what you've said it sounds to me like he is genuinely remorseful. He told you, rather than you finding out. He's changed his behaviour, eg not going out drinking after matches. And he has been incredibly supportive during your bereavement. I think it's worth "putting a pin in it" (cringe phrase I know!) for now and revisiting after therapy.

Best of luck to you OP 💐

supercali77 · 14/09/2021 09:48

People who don't have the patience to read the post but apparently have the patience to tell you that. Confused

It strikes me that he told you, you didn't have to ask or find out by some other means. It was very early days when it happened. Youre both young and emotional maturity takes a bit of time. And he has otherwise been a rock through hard times. The best advice i can give is either trust it and stay or dont and leave. Dont try to do the halfway house where you stay but end up paranoid when he goes out or similar.

Thewookiemustgo · 14/09/2021 09:48

I think you have been through an awful lot for someone so young and I’m sorry life has been so hard for you.
Only you know your boyfriend well, we here are random strangers who only know what we have read. It sounds as if he was feeling awful carrying around his secret from your early days when he loves you so much, confessed to make himself feel better, but this has rebounded badly on you and been massively amplified by the sounds of it, understandably because if what you have been through.
It’s very hard when you discover that the person you describe as ‘your rock’, the one you trust with your life, isn’t as perfect as you thought and has done something to shatter your image of them and question your trust. It’s hard for a person without your life history, let alone for someone who has been through what you have.
So, breathe and cut yourself some slack. Only you know deep down if you want to give him another chance. There are NO excuses for what he did, but he didn’t have to tell you, either, so it’s only to his credit that he did. We all screw up sometimes, that’s not minimising or accepting his betrayal, it’s acknowledging that even ‘rocks’ fuck up badly sometimes.
Only you know him well enough to see whether it’s an ingrained character trait, if he’s lied before, or a one off stupid thing he did when his ego was in the driving seat.

Use the support of those around you to talk this through with regard to your issues, and talk to him, too. If he knows exactly how this has made you feel, and how it affects you going forward, he will know what to do to put things right. Take care and look after yourself, you must be in turmoil and have so much on your plate. X

baileys6904 · 14/09/2021 09:49

Ignore the ignorant comment front he first reply. If someone can't be arsed reading all the information, but can be arsed sticking the boot in, it says all you need to know about them.

I think you have both been through so much at a relatively young age. I say both as it must have been so hard to watch you upset and dealing with everything life has thrown at you, and we'll done for getting through as well as you have.
Only you can decide if the relationship is worth a second shot. Unlike a lot of the other posters on this forum, I think it wouldn't be ludicrous to consider it and I'm usually a zero tolerance sort of person.

Perhaps a spot of counselling would be beneficial for you? Even if not for this relationship, to help for the future.

EsmeGythaMagrat · 14/09/2021 09:53

Fist of all OP, give yourself a break here. You recognise that you’ve had a turbulent few years so you don’t have to make any decisions immediately.
I’m a firm believer that words are cheap and are meaningless without the actions to underpin them. So, that said, look at what he has said and done:

  • decided that he couldn’t keep something important from you (words)
  • doesn’t go out after rugby and has made change to back up his commitment to you (action)
  • has said how much you mean to him and doesn’t want to lose you (words)
  • has provided emotional and practical support (actions).

Without minimising his actions here, it was a kiss (and I would be mighty mad if my DH had a drunken snog). It didn’t go any further though and he has come clean. I think you need to weigh that against everything he has said and done.
Give yourself time to see if it’s something you can get past. There no burning deadline here, be kind to yourself. FlowersCake

girlmom21 · 14/09/2021 09:54

I think, after reading your full initial post and not just making assumptions(!), that you could definitely get past this.

You say he confessed and was clearly upset - he didn't get caught out, he didn't lie or hide or gaslight you.

He's matured massively and has supported you through a lot. You clearly love and respect each other and I don't think he'd make the same mistake again, from what you've written.

MimiDaisy11 · 14/09/2021 10:04

I’m sorry, I don’t have the patience to read such a long opening post

Then don’t read it and don’t share with us that you didn’t read it. Most pointless post ever.

I agree with others that such things can be forgiven. It’s really up to you if you think you can and move forward. From your post he came forward with it and seems to regret it. When I was really young I kissed another man from my boyfriend and I was filled with guilt. It really made me realise how awful such an action is, and would never ever dream of doing something like that again. So it doesn’t mean he’s always going to be a cheater.
Best of luck in whatever you decide. Sorry you been through a lot.

SMT97 · 14/09/2021 10:12

Thankyou all for your comments. I am trying to work on myself first and I know I am allowed to leave whenever possible. I think I often try to seek reassurance for my own sake.
As I said it’s still hard working from home but I also know a lot of people are also going through this as well! It’s been a horrid year for everyone!

OP posts:
mocktail · 14/09/2021 10:12

He sounds like he's been a huge support to you. And he confessed, he didn't only admit it when caught out. It sounds as if he probably deserves a second chance, but only you can decide that Flowers

layladomino · 15/09/2021 18:19

I think a lot of people will relate to this, a one-off incident early in a relationship. You can get past it if you want to.

Context is key, but in this case it looks like a genuine one-off, early in the relationship, when he was young and drunk, and which he regretted straight away. That he is a decent person who has been a rock through some tough times and has since proved he is a good person. That everything else in your relationship is good.

You shouldn't feel stupid for staying, if that's what you want to do. If he made a habit of it, or if it was a kiss after months of texting, or if he did more than kiss her, then that would be another matter. But you have no reason to think it was anything but what he said.

You've had a rough time. And you've achieved loads despite the difficulties you've faced. Well done. You're clearly very capable and have a bright future ahead of you, with or without your bf.

Be kind to yourself. Life will get easier. You deserve to be happy.

Dery · 15/09/2021 18:40

"I think a lot of people will relate to this, a one-off incident early in a relationship. You can get past it if you want to."

This with bells on.

Evesgarden · 15/09/2021 18:49

@Edmontine

I’m sorry, I don’t have the patience to read such a long opening post.

But from what I gather, you’re 24, you don’t have children with this man, and you’re not married. (As you say!) If the relationship is this stressful, walk away and get on with your life.

WTF maybe you should have bothered to read the OP Hmm
Evesgarden · 15/09/2021 18:55

OP you've had a really shit time and I can see why this has all got on top of you.

Despite a drunken snog in taxi at the very beginning of your relationship before you moved in - I would stay with him. He confessed, albeit because he kind of give the game away but he did tell the truth, many people would have blagged their way out of that. My ex would have given me a million other reasons why he said that rather giving me the truth.

He has given you a lot of support in the past and has been good for you and I really would give him a second chance. If you do stay with him you have to let it go and not beat him up over it.

If he had had sex with her I would have given a totally different response Flowers

SMT97 · 16/09/2021 19:17

Thankyou all for your kind comments. It definitely puts it in perspective hearing different/no biased views Smile

We have a 5 years age gap between us (him being older) but we’ve both grown and matured so much. I think we were probably just on different wavelengths. I understand These feelings don’t go away immediately you have to work for them like what I’ve seen from him. I think I do remember him trying to tell me something closer at the time but couldn’t (in his words he was too cowardly), but I’m also glad because looking back over the last 3 years I’ve have had the best times Flowers

OP posts:
EarthSight · 16/09/2021 20:03

I think I looking for someone to say I’m not being stupid for staying and things will get better

OP, sorry, but I'm not a vending machine. I don't have a slot where you can put a coin in and get exactly what you want out. I'm not a robot! If I knew you I would give you plenty of hugs, would be there to wave your flag with you, would try to find other ways to cheer you up, but I am not willing to look at a situation like this and go 'yeah, it will all be fine'.

Just because lots of people are telling you you'll get over this, or can get over it, doesn't mean you will. Framing this as just a kiss is also wrong. Your trust was broken and he showed himself to you in a different light. Yes, a few months in is different to a few years in, but the premise is the same - you don't kiss or do inappropriate things if you are in a monagomous relationship.

The fact that he did this means -

a) He had issue with you at the time or doubts but didn't want to tell you. He wasn't sure if to break up or not. Instead of telling you, he went out and put himself in a situation where he knew he's be tempted, tried something naughty to see how he felt, and went from there.

b) He wanted a taste of another woman regardless of any issues he had with you, and knows it's wrong

c) He cannot be trusted when he's drunk. Poor excuse though. Unless he was so wasted he accidentally mashed his face on hers as he got out of the taxi, I think he knew exactly what he was doing.

I think it's likely to be b), hence the 'deserve' comment.

Once trust is broken, it's very difficult to get back. Future doubts about his behaviour or will lead back to that night. If this wasn't an issue, you wouldn't still be thinking about it, and I think it's very likely that it will continue to gnaw away at you.

I believe that if he were to break up with you and meet someone else, he may well never cheat again, but if he says with you (the person who put up with this), then that often sets a precedent. Despite passionate claims otherwise, when you stay with a man after they've done something like this, they think less of you. They might be extremely grateful that you've stayed with them, they might thank theur lucky starts for the 2nd chance, but unfortunately, you've marked yourself out as someone who'll be put up with this sort of thing. It then suggests you'll put up with more than another type of woman who would have said 'fuckity-bye' the instant she found out.

You might think- 'But I DIDN'T just 'put up' with it! I was angry! I almost left him! We had a huge row! He groveled! He was very sorry! I'm very assertive too'.......yes, but unfortunately, what he sees is -

My Actions = Nice woman I like who's decided to stay with me.

Women often come on here years down the line and wonder 'why'? Why does my husband do things like this? Why does he keep doing that, after all the unhappiness and arguing?'

The reason, OP, is because their behaviour/actions works for them. In fact, it's worked so well that the woman has actually stayed, married him and had his babies! BINGO! A win for him!! It may feel or seem like the total opposite for the poor woman, but in the end that's the net benefit his behaviour has got him. Nice eh?

Some men will also be pleasant to be around, generous, supportive, they might be seen as a 'nice' person by everyone around them......yet they still cheat. That's because in their case, cheating is something outside of their relationship with you. That is, they don't cgeat because they're unhappy with you. They cheat because they're unhappy with themselves. They want a bit of naughty thrill whilst still remaining in a relationship with a dutiful, lovely (loyal) partner. They want the ego trip, they want a boost to their self-esteem, they want to feel virile and desired by other women except for you. It's not an excuse, but it's a liability if he's like that.

I sincerely hope that I'm wrong, but I'm hoping this will be food for thought for you.

EarthSight · 16/09/2021 20:17

*if he stays with you

SMT97 · 16/09/2021 22:15

Thankyou

OP posts:
givinglessfucksdaily · 16/09/2021 22:23

Sending you a hug @SMT97 and another vote for first poster to bore off ...
You've been through so much for someone so young darling
Please walk away from this one .. you deserve so much better
Virtual mum hugs in abundance 💐