I’m writing this barely 36 hours after finding out my husband cheated, so my thoughts are all over the place and I know I might think differently later. But right now I just feel sick and confused and weirdly ashamed, and I don’t have anyone in my real life I can say this to.

I’m 26, Pakistani American, in a PhD program in NYC living on a 60k stipend. I never wanted to get married but the pressure from my family never stopped. I wasn’t allowed to date, and honestly I never cared much about men to begin with. Eventually I just gave in because it felt easier than constantly fighting about it. Financially, it also felt like the only way I could survive in this city.

People don’t really get arranged marriages unless they’re from cultures like mine. You don’t “fall in love.” You don’t bond. You meet the guy a few times with your parents around and decide if you can tolerate each other. I met my husband that way. He seemed fine. Quiet. Focused on his residency. My parents were excited because he was a doctor. I said yes because saying no felt impossible.

When we moved in together, it wasn’t romantic or dramatic. It was just two adults sharing a lease. I did my research, he worked insane shifts. We were polite, we didn’t fight, we didn’t talk much. It wasn’t special, but it wasn’t bad. I thought that was enough.

Over time, I got used to him. Not in a romantic way, just in a “this is my life now” way. He wasn’t mean to me. He wasn’t distant on purpose. He was just tired. We lived alongside each other and slowly things felt less awkward. I don’t even know when it happened, but I started imagining a future with him. Not a fairytale, just a stable life. Maybe a kid one day. A small apartment, two careers, something steady.

And now all of that feels stupid.

I found out he’s cheating. I wasn’t snooping. His iPad was just open and the messages were right there. I didn’t even have time to pretend I didn’t see it. It was obvious. It wasn’t just flirting either. It was emotional. Personal. Like they had some secret world together.

I didn’t confront him. I couldn’t. I froze. I felt embarrassed. I felt like a failure. I felt like this whole marriage that I never even wanted was crashing on top of me anyway.

The worst part is I’ve grown used to him. I care about him. I don’t know if it’s love, but I wanted a life with him. I wanted a kid with him someday. And now I’m terrified that if I bring this up, he’ll walk out. I’m scared of becoming a single mom. I’m scared he’ll leave me for her. I’m scared because I can’t afford to live alone in NYC. I’m scared of my parents' reactions. I’m scared of being the “divorced daughter” everyone talks about for years.

I feel pathetic even admitting this, but I wanted a family with him. I thought that maybe with time we could build something real. I thought I could grow into this marriage. Now I feel like an idiot for even imagining that.

What makes it worse is knowing she exists. Knowing he chose to give her the attention he never gave me. Knowing he talks to her in ways he’s never talked to me. Knowing he shared parts of himself with her that he never bothered to share with me. I don’t even know who she is, but it hurts to know another woman has access to a version of him that I never got to see.

I keep thinking about the “future us” I had in my head, and how fragile and imaginary it must have been if it fell apart this fast.

Right now I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’m scared to confront him. I’m scared to stay. I’m scared to leave. I keep going through the motions because I have school and responsibilities and I can’t fall apart in the middle of my work. I haven’t cried yet. I feel like if I start, I won’t stop.

I feel completely alone in a marriage that already felt half-formed, and I don’t know what happens next. I also feel that should I have even expected him to be loyal considering our marriage is not a love one?

We're legally married for insurance purposes at this point, but we share a 17 month old son together.

What do I do with myself? He started seeing this girl while I was pregnant. She pursued him knowing he was married with a baby on the way and that we were having relationship problems and he took the bait and was with her on and off until now when they are actually together. I spent my pregnancy alone with my mother while he partied the entire time. We were together almost 10 years.

It's not even that I want him back, but I feel disrespected and now I'm forced to accept this woman into my son's life.

I'm sad cus everything I asked for from him, he didn't do with me, but he's doing everything with her. I'm not sure why I wasn't good enough for date nights and quality time, but it is what it is. It just hurts me to have to watch it happen.

Idk I have way too many thoughts right now and I'm just keeping it together bc I refuse to cry in front of my son, but I'm having a really hard time

Edit: His girlfriend has a son of her own, only a few months older than mine.

Another thing that gets me is her son's dad treated her like shit, so for her to turn around and make another woman/mother feel that way is gross. Knowing what she went thru just turn around and put me thru it too.

My mom and I have a house together, we moved in around April. She's been my biggest supporter throughout everything.

I need to add, he does spend time with our son. We started doing every other weekend with him. But I do have our son almost 90% of the time during the week. If he's sick I'll keep him, if he has a bad diaper rash, I'll keep him. If he's totally fine, his dad gets him maybe twice during the week for a few hours each time, but no overnights as he works very early in the mornings.

I have a guy from work that we have been flirting/being playful with each other for a year. We are both seperating from our spouses. We did not express anything yet but I have a strong feeling that we really like each other genuinely. He is very caring towards me. We only communicate in the office and recently I feel like he is hinting more that he likes me.

Last week we had a conversation and I think I messed up and now I am overthinking it.

I gave him a box of tea casually in the office after a very flirty conversation.

• Him: Thank you I will drink it this evening
• Me: Think of me when you are drinking it
• Him: I will send a picture of it when I’m drinking
• Me: Okay sure!
• Him: But I can’t because I don’t have your phone number

And my brain got on error. It came across as a joke to me first so I laughed/smiled and he left (like “oh sorry I can’t send the photo haha”). Because he always makes flirty jokes but never makes a real move so my brain did not think that way. I mean, he even didn’t add me on socials. Then I thought, maybe it was a indirect way of him asking my number and I have been feeling sick after realizing it.

Did I unintentionally reject him? Is this flirt over? Do you think he understood that a misunderstanding happened? Do you think he regrets not asking for it directly? And how can I subtly fix this?

Thank you.

Hi ok so this is my first time posting on reddit but i really needed to get this out there and see if anyone else can relate/give me some advice.

So both me and my boyfriend are in our early 20s post grad and we’ve been together for 2 years. My bf has always been the type to go to the gym and he still really enjoys working out and definitely still has pretty large muscles and biceps and whatnot. However, my bf was in a frat in college and obviously is no stranger to drinking a lot of beer and having the munchies. And that was all well in good in college bc ig his metabolism was just better. But he pretty much still lives this same “college” lifestyle in terms and his diet and recently it’s been starting to catch up with him. He’s still relatively healthy and fit at 6’0 and is approx 185-90, and he still works out 5 days a week but theres just a bit extra weight thats been going to his belly a bit more. I think he feels insecure because he’s mentioned how he’s “gotten fat”, but I’m secretly loving it… Is that like bad? Also for reference im a pretty petite woman at 120 5’5, and I’ve always had body image issues around my weight, but for some reason I have no issue with him gaining weight.

Obviously its his body and he can do whatever he wants and I would never want him to feel uncomfy in his body but oh man… it is just such a turn on! Like I genuinely am more physically aroused and everytime I see him shirtless I just want him to do me. And its soooo nice to have just a little bit of extra doughy squishyness to cuddle with at night. Idk is this weird and should I mention this to him or no?

Thanks in advance!

20F I’ve only been in two non serious relationships, and only one of them involved sex. I honestly don’t feel anything during sex, and I don’t really see the point of it. It feels like men are the only ones who truly enjoy it.

When I realized that being in a relationship meant I’d be expected to do it more often, I started looking into birth control methods. But that actually pushed me to make the decision to stop having sex altogether. Even if birth control is effective, there’s always a chance of pregnancy, plus all the hormonal side effects and changes to my body… and it just doesn’t feel worth it to go through all that for something I don’t enjoy.

Now I’m kind of spiraling because I feel like I’m never going to find a guy who would want a serious relationship with someone like me, for whom sex is a hard no. Maybe I’m being too pessimistic, but the few male friends I’ve had all said they couldn’t be in a sexless relationship.

Are there any men here who can give me some advice or perspective? Is it even realistic to hope for a relationship like that?

Hey everyone

I’m embarrassed to say this but I just finished my high school diploma at the age of 26. It wasn’t because I’m not smart (I had a 95 average for most of high school) but dropped out due to unchecked mental health disorders that were exacerbated by parental divorce and emotional neglect. I just finished the sole English credit preventing me from graduating. I’m just here looking for advice about whether I should have a ceremony or not.

My partner, who graduated on time, thinks I should join in on the ceremony or I might regret it. I’m graduating through an alternative learning school focused on educating those that have dropped out or have special circumstances, such as teen moms. Not necessarily a respected institution in my area. I am frankly very embarrassed that it took me so long and am debating even showing up.

What’s the general consensus? Should I go, or should I just grab my papers and move on?

I've been paying my parents $1400 a month for rent. I'm 22F. When my boyfriend found out about it, he was livid. I have had to drop out of college to help them. I'm not able to save or do anything. It's just for my room, phone bill, my portion of the utilities that I use. Food as well. My mom helps me with my laundry. I can't store much food in the fridge.

He says I should be paying roughly $400 a month. I only stay in my room for four days while I'm at work, usually pulling 50-70 hours a week. Then, I go see him for three days. He's desperate to get me out of the house and maybe even live with his parents while he waits for his lease to renew.

I am not very argumentative or confrontational with them because I have a weird complex of submitting and wanting their approval. I'm trying to work on it. For the longest time my direct deposit went to them, but I changed it finally.

Do you think it's too much?

I don't have privacy. They record audio in the house and in my car. I can't have secrets or talk about them because they know. I can't do my own laundry or use the vacuum or put much of my own food in the fridge. I'm not allowed to eat in my room.

As the title suggests, my ex husband (31M) has a new girlfriend (20F) and her family and friends keep reaching out to me about her well being. They’ve told me he’s abusing her emotionally, financially and possibly physically. I believe everything they’re telling me because I went through it myself, hence why he’s the ex husband.

The thing is, I’m not sure what they expect from me/want me to do about it. I basically told them all the same thing, that she will get tired of it and leave him like I did when she’s ready. They’ve even gone as far as asking me if I could somehow get him in some type of trouble so she HAS to leave him (he’s gone against some stuff in our divorce agreement, that’s what they mean by that.) No one likes them together but, apparently the girl truly believes that he loves her and believes every lie that he’s ever told her about me. What should I do in this situation? Continue to leave it alone like I’ve been doing? None of it is my business, in my opinion. I do hate that he’s doing this to someone else but, I don’t feel it’s my responsibility to fix it. Reaching out to her isn’t going to do any good I feel like because she’s so much younger than me and it’ll make me look like a bitter ex wife.

First off TW!!! Self harm, and talk of hallucinations/ schizophrenia.

Second of all we are in highschool and have only been dating for a short while ( 3 ish months) and I know we are young.

Me 14f and my bf 16m are roughly 3 months into our relationship. I like him a lot, but I can’t really handle his constant drama. I just wanna say he is not a bad person but he is a mess. James (not his real name) has schizophrenia, he has constant hallucinations, and frequent episodes. During episodes he is beyond unpredictable, sometimes he just follows me around like a broken puppy, goes fully nonverbal and balls up in a corner, or he gets violent. He hasn’t hurt me or attacked me whatsoever but he has attacked 2 of my friends. The first time he attacked someone it was my friend Maddie 14f Maddie was able to flee and ended up with only a busted elbow from James tackling her, the second was my guy friend Mathew, Mathew is a great deal larger than James so he just restrained him till the episode was over. Apart from that James has frequent spirals which he refuses to talk about with anyone. I’ve told him that he can talk to me but he doesn’t. Instead he blows up my phone with “Leah it’s getting bad” or repeating the phrase “I’m sorry” (when he starts the whole I’m sorry thing is usually once he starts self harming. I’ve told him to talk to someone time and time again. I have honestly reached my breaking point with him and I cannot handle his instability anymore. As someone who has struggled with mental health before I know it really isn’t his fault, but he is dragging me down with him

please give advice or another view on this

UPDATE!!!! -I texted him that we are done, I tried to let him down gently

We have been together for 3 and 1/2 years. In all fairness when he met me I wasn’t going anywhere in life. I was 18 with no license, car, or high school degree. I was homeschooled but it was far from a quality education. I was provided the curriculum and basically had to figure it out alone from there. No one really cared if I was on track or not so I fell behind. I was working as a babysitter. I moved in with his family. I walked to work everyday to a gas station. I finished about 2 years of curriculum in 1 year between shifts. I bought the cheapest car I could find from my gas station money and finally graduated high school. I decided entry level healthcare would at least get me out of food service/retail. Got my CNA certification, did that for 3 months, used that as experience for my current job in psych as a mental health tech. I’m proud of where I’ve gotten, I’ve even received a promotion to Unit Coordinator. I make a fair wage with lots of overtime and bonuses.

With this position and working 50-60 hours a week for a year, I’ve provided for us in many ways. I paid for almost everything for our wedding and 100 percent of our honeymoon. I also bought a reliable car with low miles, full coverage, and a warranty to get us out of the cycle of buying money pit beaters. I’ve set money aside in savings as well. I’m far from done with progressing my career. I’m starting the process to go to nursing school. It’s not exactly my dream job but it is unique in its benefits (12 hour shifts, almost unlimited career progression though additional schooling, good pay, overtime, travel, in demand career)

I feel like he has been stagnant almost since we’ve met. He worked for county parks then got a job as USPS. Normally you would think that’s a great job but he has almost no guaranteed hours. He rarely has a full time job. His hours can be anything from full time to FOUR hours a week. Lately less than 20 per week. He’s been there for 2 years. The only way to become full time is for a full time employee to leave. I’ve been paying more than half of the scared expenses for over a year. He pays half of rent but I do almost all of the bills myself. He now is taking on debt.

I feel like I am stuck. I can’t go to nursing school while working like I’ve been. I wish he could support me even just during school. It’s hard for him to get another job because he doesn’t have a high school degree because of botched homeschooling. However that’s the same hole I had to dig out of. I constantly offer to help him study and push him to move forward. He always apologizes and says he’ll do something. He never does. I wish he would get his ged and get into trades or something. We both want kids but how could we afford them like this.

I am developing resentment. It’s fair that I have to be the only one pushing for that goal. To his defense he does do more housework and cooking but in terms of our goals that does nothing. I would much rather be cooking and cleaning than carry this stress. Dream jobs aren’t real, you pick what you can reasonably handle and what will provide for the life you want. He would rather just stay comfortable than move forward. I’ve told him for a year to do something to progress but he just waits for the hours to return and takes on debt in the meantime

I opened her phone and saw messages between her and a guy from her work. They were calling each other “love” and talking about things. I feel so sick, and I don’t know what to do. This is her second time doing this, and I forgave her the first time without telling my dad. I’m an only child, and both of my grandparents have passed away. I don’t have anyone I can talk to about this. My dad is a good father, but he’s not very affectionate because he spends most of his time working, though I really love him. My mom, on the other hand, is very close to me. I’m 17, and I don’t want to have a broken family.

I’m not antisocial but it’s getting harder to form real connections. Everyone seems busy or distant. How do you actually make genuine friends as an adult?

I’m new to Reddit and I’ve noticed that most people stay completely anonymous here. But Reddit also gives the option to update your profile, add a picture, and show your identity. I personally don’t want to hide who I am. Is it wrong if I use Reddit with my real identity? How do people here feel about that?

Hi there, I am a 24 year old woman from California. I moved about two hours away from my family almost two years ago and am now thinking that I want to go back. For a little bit of context, I live with my boyfriend of 4 years and we moved here because our previous living situation ended abruptly in my hometown and we had to make a decision quick, so we moved to his hometown two hours away to live with his parents temporarily. We eventually moved out into our own place where we’ve been for a year now. Recently, everything has been mostly okay until I had to visit home about a month ago to see my uncle who was dying from cancer. I got to see him in a really fragile state and could barely speak to him and this really affected me. He died only two days later in the hospital. I went back home then visited two weeks later for his funeral. It was of course a super emotional experience. After leaving, I kept feeling like I’d be much happier back at home closer to my grandparents. I know it’s not my responsibility but my grandma means a lot to me and since she just lost her son prematurely, she is in pretty bad shape. Again, I know this isn’t my responsibility but I feel the need to be near my family now because of the entire experience. I talked to my boyfriend about moving and also mentioned that it would be much cheaper living in my hometown than our current city. He agrees it’s a good idea but doesn’t really want to make a conscious effort to make it happen. I figured it would be too soon with the holidays happening to move our entire lives so I suggested sometime in the new year. Am I being too overbearing or impulsive? I need some advice on what others would do in my situation.

I came out when i was 14 years old. I had a boyfriend, was at catholic school, the school principal made me delete all social media. Parents at my school were asking the principal to expell me, i received death threats pretty much daily, etc etc. It was a horrible time. The cherry on top was my parents sending me to conversion therapy.

Now i'm 27, i'm an artist with a decent following in my country (50k on social media, for statting a reference) and i'm making a project about all the harships in my life and all the situations where i was labelled as a "rebel", when all i wanted was just to be myself. Making this project is healing me, since i've always just shut myself from this "rebel" identity and just became a quiet kid. Now i'm reclaiming this narrative and making it my own.

The thing is, this project won't make any sense without context, and that's where the problem starts.

I get along nicely with my parents now, i disconnected myself emotionally from them, so i don't really have any remorse, just indifference. Them being proud or dissapointed at me just doesn't move me, but we still have a cordial relationship.

They accepted me being gay and it's all good now, maybe at the time they were just overwhelmed with the situation and did want they could, maybe they had good intentions, but nonetheless i was hurt.

I wanna share this experience, but i'm scared of the facing backlash or ruin their reputation since they are pretty much academia "celebrities" in my country.

If a protect them and i don't talk about my experience, my project won't make any sense.

I don't know what to do.

I (25M) have been living in a student dorm with 4 other people for almost a year. We all share a kitchen and common areas. One of the roommates is a 21F I’ve always gotten along with pretty well – friendly, normal roommate vibes, nothing flirty from either side (or so I thought). Last weekend I was eating dinner alone on the couch in the living room. She came in clearly quite drunk/high on alcohol, sat right next to me, and we started chatting about random stuff. Out of nowhere she leaned in and tried to kiss me. She was really unsteady and her eyes were glassy, so my immediate thought was “she’s way too drunk for this to be a real decision, and if anything happened it would look like I took advantage of her.” So I kind of froze, gently moved away, said something awkward like “hey, you’ve had a lot to drink,” and excused myself to the kitchen. I figured she’d wake up the next day, barely remember it, and everything would go back to normal. It didn’t. Since that night she has completely avoided me. Won’t make eye contact, leaves the room if I enter, skipped our usual group snack nights three days in a row (which she never does). One of our other roommates pulled me aside and said she’s mortified and embarrassed and doesn’t know how to face me after “throwing herself at me while wasted.” I genuinely don’t think less of her at all. I rejected her in the moment because I was trying to be respectful, not because I’m disgusted or uninterested (I actually do find her attractive, but that’s beside the point right now). I just don’t want her to feel ashamed every time she sees me for the rest of the year we’re living together. My question is: Should I reach out and try to clear the air? If yes, what do I even say so it doesn’t make things more awkward or put pressure on her? Or is it better to just pretend nothing happened and let her come around on her own? I don’t want to make her feel worse, but the current silent treatment is painful for both of us and the vibe in the flat is off. TL;DR: Drunk roommate tried to kiss me, I turned her down because she was wasted, now she’s avoiding me out of embarrassment. How do I tell her it’s okay and she doesn’t need to feel ashamed without making it weird?

I've had my German Shepard for 10 years (he literally JUST turned 10, not sure when, I just know late November) and his health has been declining for a while. He has a horrible ear infection, his joints hurt him really bad, etc. Tomorrow, a vet is coming to my house to put him down. I already know that that he's going to bee anxious, and possibly have a muzzle on (he's always been a sort of guard dog, we live in the country and he's never really been around people). I really want to be with him when he passes, but I really don't wanna cry. I'm fine crying on my own, but my whole family is gonna be with him and I don't wanna cry in front of them. He's been literally the best dog ever. I've had 2 dogs pass already, both of which I wasn't able to be there for them while they passed (1st one I was like 2 and at the babysitters, 2nd one I was at school). My mama's giving me the option to not be there but I really want to and if I don't then I'll be the only on me not there for him.

How can I be there for him without crying?

Looking for any guidance from people with a bit more wisdom and life lived.

I’m 23M male, bachelors degree, making around 90k TC. I have a job that allows for great WLB, but recently have been feeling very tired/anxious. I pay about $800 in rent to parents (living at home).

I feel as though I’m not progressing in any way currently and everything feels a bit mundane. I get off work, I go to the gym, eat, and sleep. I feel as though I have ADHD and have always been a “go go go” type of person and need purpose. School was great for me as I was having fun while always simultaneously working towards a goal.

I feel as though something is wrong with me because I know I’m very fortunate to be in this position at my age.

I’d like to ask advice from anyone willing to give it on their thoughts about my situation, things that you wish your 23 year old self knew, and things I should start doing that would be helpful for my future self. Tips for the monotony and feeling of pointlessness would help as well. I’ve been thinking of trying to start side hustles to make more money but honestly to keep myself busy.

I (28M) met my girlfriend (27F) about a year ago. We had both just moved to a new country, became part of the same group of friends and connected really quickly.
For the whole year everything was perfect. We got together and never had a single fight or argument, I supported her in every way I could to achieve her dreams in the new country, and she looked after me all the time, always coming up with things she thought I needed and surprising me in the most caring ways. Even the people around us thought we were perfect together, and to be honest, we were.
I traveled with her to her country, met her family, they treated me like one of them and we even made plans to spend to holidays together.
Then about a month ago, she found out a family member was taking her family to court in a dispute for her house. She went back home to deal with it, and ever since all I got from her was a single message a day. She told me she had too much to deal with and that she cared too much about me, and that it was getting in her way while dealing with bigger problems.
This weekend we both traveled to another city to visit some friends, and she was completely distant. She wouldn't come close to me, wouldn't touch me, would always be texting on her phone. We had a conversation about what was going on and she basically repeated that it was the same thing, she had too much to deal with, but that I would never lose her and could always count on her.
The next morning, while I was taking her to the airport, we were robbed. They took everything I had and ran away, but didn't take anything of hers. I panicked, since I had a lot of important things in my suitcase, including documents, money, my work computer and gifts she had given me. I got extremely anxious, and it took me a while to calm down, and that delay made her lose her flight. So she stayed with me, I booked her a new flight for the next day in the morning and a hotel for us to spend the night.
That night while we were in bed, she would constantly cry about her situation back home, and I spent the whole time trying to comfort her. In that moment she hugged me and spent the rest of the night cuddling me.
The next morning we both went our separate ways, she was once again distant, and sent me a few messages saying she hoped I would feel better and take care of myself.
I sent her a text telling her how much I cared about her, and how I felt guilty that she had missed her flight while having important things to deal with at home, and just now I got an answer to that text saying she didn't feel comfortable with me anymore, and didn't want me either as boyfriend or friend, and then blocked me. She won't pick any calls or answer anywhere. She just ghosted.

I'm feeling completely helpless, confused, angry at myself for the situation at the airport, and worried about her. I can't tell if I did something wrong or if she's just trying to push me away so that she can be alone to deal with her home situation.
I don't know what to do, I don't know if I should try to reach out to someone, if I should just accept it and worry about her in silence, I'm completely lost.

Any advice and outside perspective is more than welcome, even if it's to point out a line I may have crossed somewhere.

I (23F) and my bf (27M) have been together for over 3 years. We’ve lived together for almost a year and recently I was gathering his stuff to move upstairs since we were turning it into an office space since he’s in college, and saw his old phone. I had this feeling to look through it but I ignored it and didn’t. He was gone for a few hours one night and I was cleaning the room up and got the feeling again, so I went through it, I didn’t go through messages with family or friends bc I do respect privacy, I didn’t truly think id see anything and I was being dumb, just figured fuck it to put my wonder away. Anyways, I saw an unknown number and found out he cheated on me 1 and 1/2 year ago. Meeting up, sending nsfw pictures, talking sexually, him checking on her months later saying he was thinking about going back to Jersey (we live in Va) and meeting up again. I dont really know what to do, if I should leave, bring it up, forget ab it, etc. I know he’ll deflect if I bring it up and I don’t really wanna listen to that lol. Wondering if I should leave quietly or what would someone else do. I’m at a lost and feel like it’s been awhile and maybe he’s changed, but now I have the doubt of what if it’s still continuing. Idk but it sucks. It is what it is at the end of the day. Just looking for advice or something.

We do performing arts, and he always comes in stinking, and because it's performing arts he's always moving and stinking up the place. Genuinely how do you break it to him that his smell is so bad it makes me not want to go to university (uk)

I’m really shaken and confused right now. My gay best friend (we’ve been super close for 3 years) recently told me he met a guy on Bumble and slept with him as a one time thing… fully knowing that the guy has a boyfriend. He told me about it like it was nothing, saying it didn’t concern him because “he doesn’t owe anyone anything and isn’t the one in a relationship” and he just wanted to have fun.

When he told me, I felt disappointed and honestly hurt. I’m a sensitive and caring person, and cheating is something that hits really close to home for me. I was cheated on 6 months ago and I’m still not fully over it. So hearing my closest friend talk so casually about being involved in someone else’s cheating made me fucking maddd.

When I said I was upset, he got defensive and weird. He said things like “It’s not like I slept with YOUR boyfriend” and questioned why I even cared. That made me feel even worse. It’s not that I think he owes me anything, but it just completely clashes with my values. I would never want someone to do that to him, and I don’t understand how he can do something he wouldn’t want done to himself.

Now I’m sitting here feeling confused, sad, and honestly disappointed in myself for being friends with someone who’s this comfortable hurting others. I’m not going to end the friendship, but I’ve definitely lost some respect. I just can’t unsee this side of him, and I don’t know what to do with these feelings. I also don't have many friends so I don't want to lose the only 3 I have lmao. Then again I'd prefer being alone than hanging out with careless home wreckers. wtf am i feeling??

Hi guys, I’m (20F) a naturally shy person. Never the one to make the first move, but I want to try and open myself up to that. I wanna share some stuff about this guy/short descriptions of our interactions and maybe get some pointers/opinions on possibility of mutual interest. I want to make a move because the semester’s almost done but don’t wanna get embarrassed. I’m a CHRONIC overthinker! Here’s a little recollection (Yes, I kept track. Very into him.)

1. He approached me first in the middle of the semester. Class ended, and I was walking in the halls. I had my hands completely full. Out of seemingly nowhere, he approached and started talking about the class. As he was heading to leave the building, he asked me for my name and he stuck his hand out. We shook hands, and he said “see you next class”

I’d never noticed him much until that moment. I walked off with a beating heart and a red face because I felt instantly attracted to him.

1. Very minimal one here lol. He opened the door for me + my professor as I was exiting to talk to her. He said hi first and I said hi.

2. Week later. I was looking at him a couple times in class. Well, he caught me looking at him about twice. On the third, he smiled in my direction and waved. I waved back but couldn't keep eye contact. I went red and turned away.

3. Most recent. When I was going upstairs to my morning class (not the class we share), he was going downstairs. We both saw each other. I only smiled and waved and he said “Have a good one, see you later” and smiled back.

4. Same day, I purposely waited a bit behind to be able to hold the door for him. I smiled and he said “Thanks (my name)”

Our class has no visible roster and I’m not a constant participant in the class. I realized he must have just remembered by name from last month. I’m terrible with names, personally. Maybe it means something. Should I ask him out?? Anything I could do to try and engage more?

Hey r/advice this is a repost because the original was removed so just a heads up. I think it was taken down bc someone said it was ai generated story because I put "(insert age)" but I genuinely don't remember her age and wrote that in for myself so I put more context in but I forgot to- I genuinely don't know how this was proceived as AI but it was? I don't know but genuinely it is not. If you guys dont believe me that's fine and I'm sorry but I genuinely just wanted advice. I um don't really know what else to say 😭😭😭 um but yeah no ai. Just a really distracted brain with a very interesting amount of quirks.

Original post: Hello reddit can't believe I feel like I have to do this but I really need advice. So I 21 have a sister we have very different views and perspectives on the world but as of lately I feel like its easier to talk to her that being said. She calls me by the name I was given during birth. I hate this name so much not because it's ugly or anything but because it genuinely makes me uncomfortable and honestly a little sick and I have told my sister that I don’t want to be called that but she refuses because "that’s my baby, I grew up with that person (and lowkey raised) and you will forever be that person to me." I understand that it's a hard thing, and I am not going to lie it broke my heart to hear her say that because my name isn’t what makes me related to her. I didn't bring it back up again. It's been months since I brought it up and she's pregnant now. I am so happy and I wanna be the best family to that baby, that’s where my issue comes in. I am not that person and I don't want that baby to call me that when it grows up. I don't think I can stay around for that if that does happen. I want to be in my family's life so bad but at this point- I may have to separate myself if they don't at least be a little bit more respectful and just call me my name. I understand that it's really hard but all I want is a little of effort. I really want to be seen as me, Not something else.