I posted this in AIBU, but I’ll put an abridged version here too because it might be appropriate to do so.
My DS is 14, and his best friend is also a 14 year old boy. His best friend gets VERY jealous easily, especially of people that my son pays attention to. His best friend is very talented, however has severe acne and is not conventionally attractive which makes him insecure and impacts his self esteem.
At the start of the year, another boy joined the year with the ‘same talents’ as DS’ best friend. This boy also happens to be very handsome and conventionally attractive, which made my DS’ best friend seethe with jealousy and become suddenly overprotective of DS and afraid of abandonment. He’s definitely afraid that he’s going to be replaced as DS’ best friend by this ‘better’ version of himself, if you like.
DS’ best friend has now been calling my DS late at night, afraid of abandonment and asking repeatedly ‘do you still like me, are you going to replace me with [the other boy] since he’s so much better than me and also better looking.’
DS is now exhausted by his best friend and feeling agitated because his best friend is obviously manic and anxious - it’s starting to rub off on DS and affect him visibly. He said it’s draining to be around his best friend now.
So, I’ve limited their interaction heavily now - DS objected but I know he’ll thank me. I just am afraid that DS’ best friend will freak out and lose his mind because he’s so immensely attached to my DS. DS’ best friend’s mother called me this morning and said I was harming her son by limiting contact and spoke to me rudely, then hung up.
My question is, seeing as this is a unique situation…. how do I go about this? If it makes any difference, I suspect DS’ best friend has a crush on him and this might explain some of his behaviour. I’m just not sure, feeling conflicted.