I hope it’s okay to post here. CN: sexual assault.
A ‘best friend’ (let’s say Bella) of 20 years behaved appallingly towards me about 2 years ago. Bella was drunk and very predatory and didn’t accept several clear “no”s. I was frightened of her and how she acted. I had to run away from her. I told my DH immediately and he has been very supportive. I still startle if I am in the same place it happened (somewhere in my house).
I initially didn’t speak to Bella for a few months. We had one conversation about what happened and she apologised - I had also made it clear in a text after she had left that she had violated my boundaries and it was not ok. I have a history of trauma and am neurodiverse so for me that compounded things, and she knew this was a beyond shitty act.
But then a few weeks later Bella’s sister got terminal cancer and I stepped forward and we reconnected, because it would have I guess been cruel not to be there for her. She had a breakdown after this and I carried her through it. She sent lots of gifts since (a bit weird I guess) and has provided emotional support to me in many ways.
So I went back into my role as her friend - but also a year ago had my DD. DD arrived after I lost my son to miscarriage, and she is the love of my life. Now a new and tired working mum, I have limited spare time for friends irl. However I saw Bella perhaps once a month. I had subconsciously stepped back though from doing as much 1:1 or more intimate and in the evenings. I also got slower at replying to people. But we still texted daily.
This - she said recently - wasn’t enough. She wanted to see me more in real life. I apologised for how things had changed since I had my DD. She said my “behaviour” wasn’t ok. She was obviously sad I was less “there” and tired of the excuses.
Bella though then said by text that I clearly had an “inability” to talk about what happened, that this had impacted our friendship, and that this was not her responsibility... I guess she worked out why else I didn’t want as much time with her.
This was the last straw for me. I thought how dare you define what my boundaries should be and make this my fault. I was shocked. I said so and blocked her.
I have now “lost” my best friend. I also feel like perhaps she was a bit of a dominance and a bully in my life, and am a bit shaken by the reality of it. I have a lovely therapist and DH is being super.
but - have I missed something here? Should I have given her the time of day to talk about it or was me burying it for the last few years a bad or unfriendly thing? And how do I move on?