Today I was in town in a shop and ran into my ex-boyfriend from about 5 years ago. I dated him from 15 to 17 then he dumped me I think because he thought he might have a chance with another girl, I don't know if that worked out. I was devastated at the time but looking back it was for the as best he was 3 years older than me and probably felt lame dating a high school girl while he was at university and to be honest he wasn't really a great boyfriend to me very unreliable and quite selfish. I was super loyal and devoted (stupidly so) and so it was great for me to get out there to meet and date other people.
So I did get over him in a couple of months and started dating someone new then I went to university and so my life was moving on as it does at that age and I didn't think much about him. We were at the same university so I did see him about sometimes and when I'd run into him he would say oh we should hang out and to be honest I would probably have been more open to doing so as friends back then, I did wonder if he was testing to see if I'd be open to dating him again but nothing ever really came of it and I didn't try to make it happen as I was busy with my own life. The last time I saw him before today was at uni when he told me he was taking a year out from university due to his mental health but he never returned.
Anyway he saw me in the shop today and came up to me and we just chatted. I him asked how his parents, sister and friends were and so on just the usual pleasantries then he said we should swap numbers so we could hang out sometimes. I said no, I don't think so, he asked why and I said I just don't want to, I'm pretty busy with my work and I barely have enough time for my friends and boyfriend as it is. I hadn't given him much thought in recent years so my response was really just intuitive but I guess it just felt like a bad idea as it would be disrespectful to my current boyfriend and I guess it just feels like my ex on some level probably still sees me as the young, naïve, loyal girlfriend I was when I was with him, putting up with all his bad behaviour and perhaps thinks he could still pick up with me, but really it was just an instinctive no. It wasn't nasty or rude I was just establishing my own boundaries with him.
Anyway after it sank in that I really was saying no to him he turned nasty and shouted in the bookshop ( I was so embarrassed) that I'd "become a complete f**king bitch" and then he stormed off.
It was awful, I just don't get why he would turn so nasty, while he wasn't the best boyfriend he was never that nasty or abusive with me before so its just upsetting that this will be our last interaction because after that I think I will be avoiding him completely.