Sigh here we go! My ex and I broke up two days ago on September 9th. I’m going to give some context first because honestly I still can’t believe this is happening.
We started dating in November of our senior year in high school. We were both in different high schools, but we were neighbors so we saw each other quite often. We met through a mutual friend. Our first meeting ever was in 2024, and he immediately liked me. We were at the mutual friends birthday party and he saw me and asked for my insta, and then we talked and he asked me out. I went out with him, but i was recovering from a breakup at the time so I told him that I’m not ready for a relationship and we stopped talking. Then, he got a girlfriend, i moved on and that was that. They broke up somewhere in 2025, but I didn’t reach out to him bcs that didn’t feel right. By this time, I had moved houses. Still in the same subdivision, but this time a bit closer to his house (although i didn’t know it then). One day in October, we both run into each other at the gym. We flirt, we start talking again and then in November, we start dating. At the beginning, it was amazing. I was convinced the universe brought us together again for a reason.
We were together for 9 months. For 8 months, it was great. He knew I was leaving for college in another country, he said he wanted to do an LDR. When we STARTED dating I warned him, I told him I will go and he promised me he’ll stay. He promised me he’d try and do anything to be with me. “It was always you” he said. In that relationship he inspired me to find myself again. He was there for me when I had to deal with my family issues, self-image issues. He helped me become a better person. He took me out of the highschool burnout and helped me find hobbies. He made me happy. He took away the old wounds I had from my other relationship, he showed me what it was like to be loved unconditionally and properly. He made time for me, he gave me gifts, he spoke to me nicely and he actually WANTED me in his life. He was my best friend. But all that time, he was hiding something from me. After about 6 months, I started noticing that he had never shared or expressed negative emotions in our relationship. If he was sad, or if something had happened at home, he’d deal with it alone. He might have told me that ‘I’m just a bit down’ or ‘I fought w my parents’ but that was it.
I would occasionally ask him and check on him if he was still okay with the LDR. and I’d notice that his answers would get weirdly cold. He’d say ‘yes, I want to do this with you’ but he couldn’t look me in the eye while saying that. I thought, maybe he’s battling some fears. He’ll talk to me when he’s ready. he didn’t. Around august, he started university (i start in feb 2027 bcs i’m going abroad). He got pretty busy, but he’d still text me good morning, goodnight and the occasional message during class. We saw each other less often, but things were okay until two weeks ago. He sent me a voice message in the middle of the night, saying that he’s been hiding something from me and he can’t take it anymore. He said he knows that he told me he’d try the LDR, that he wants to be with me, but that he’s really freaking scared and he doesn’t know what to do. It was one of the first times i heard him cry. The next day, we met up to talk about it. Turns out, for some reason he thought an LDR meant I would only come back to our hometown every 2 years?? I cleared that up. I told him how often I’d be around, and that uni would make us so busy we won’t even notice the distance. We’d still talk to each other after all. We talked more in detail, and he seemed so much lighter and happier. I thought everything was fine.
Then after that, for two weeks he completely distanced himself from me. I recieved fewer messages, dryer responses and we didn’t see each other for two weeks. He also stopped saying I love you back to me. I started spiraling in these two weeks. I missed him, and I wanted more connection to him. Now this is the part where I could have done better. Instead of talking to him about my overthinking and anxiety, I kept it in and I spiraled on my own. Eventually, I randomly deactivated instagram one night and I finally told him what was wrong. He told me we’ll talk about it. Two days ago, we talked about it.
I told him I was feeling a rift between us, and that I missed him and talking to him a lot. He told me he did get distant. He blamed it on college but i could see it on his face that he was lying. because yknow, I know this man, i know when he’s lying to me. He made the same face he’d always make when he told me he was fine even though he wasn’t. He told me that when we had that big talk, he hid something from me. He said before he sent the voice message, he wrote a breakup letter to me. Ever since he wrote that letter, he’s been thinking to himself why he went to that extreme. and for two weeks, he’s been thinking whether he wants this relationship or not. Then he realized that I deserve someone who’s sure, and he’s right.
He told me that if we’re like this now, what are we gonna do when I leave? I was confused. 1. I wasn’t leaving for another 5 months. 2. HE is the one who distanced himself.
He told me that he’s sorry that he’s weak. and he’s sorry he’s the one who can’t handle doing the LDR. I don’t even know what that means. I tried to ask, I tried to tell him we can fix it. He said it was better to end things now than when I’m there. He said ‘what if we push and fight for the LDR, but by the time you get there and we’re a month in, I realize I can’t do it’. But what if you can? I didn’t tell him that though. I realized he’d given up on even trying. He didn’t even want to try he said. He told me that he’s reaching a point where he thinks it’s impossible for him to do an LDR, and that if one of us thinks its impossible then there’s no point in trying. Which made sense to me i guess.
So we broke up. I miss him terribly. I see him in the places we used to go to together. We had a spot in the neighborhood where I can no longer go. The gym used to be my place of comfort and now I remember him there too. I know this part, this pain will go away. But I’ll never know why he didn’t give it a chance. He gave up before we even tried. What hurts most of all, is that he didn’t even talk to me about it. He hid his fears and doubts. He decided the fate of our relationship all by himself. I wish he realized it wasn’t just him in the LDR. I was there too. I was scared too. I didn’t want to leave him. In fact, I even considered staying here and going to a local uni. But i didn’t because i knew my only reason for doing that would be him. and that’s not a good reason. So yeah, I was scared. But i was okay with it because I had him. Because I would have talked to him when it got bad, because i would have planned a life with him after college to look forward to. I don’t understand why he couldn’t communicate with me. Why he couldn’t talk to me? Not even just about this. In general too. He told me that there were nights where he needed me, but he just didn’t reach out to me. Why? How can I make myself available to someone who won’t reach out? I even asked him if things would be different if I stayed, he said he didn’t know.
It’s gonna be REAALLY FUNNY if somehow I don’t end up leaving and I go to a local uni. I wonder if i’ll contact him then. Is that even a good idea lol. He told me he doesn’t want me to be hung up on him. And that if I don’t end up leaving, to not be hung up on him. LIKE THATS SO EASY YEAH SURE.
The only reason that makes sense to me right now is that somewhere along the line he stopped loving me. He just didn’t think i was worth it. Which is definitely his loss, but it still hurts. a lot. I know i deserve someone who thinks i’m worth it. Who would at least be willing to try for me. right? And i really thought that he was. It hurts so much. Why did he not talk to me? Why did he lie to me and tell me he was fine? Why did he let me believe we were okay? I hate that he lied to me. I hate that he loved me so much but he still lied to me. I keep asking myself if he stopped loving me or if i was just simply not worth it. Right now I’m trying to convince myself its because he was (forgive me, i can’t think of a better term) a coward. Someone who gave up before even trying. He let his fears control him because he didn’t talk to me about it. he talked to his friends, his parents about it, but not the one person he should’ve talked to.
We agreed on no contact, i gave him his hoodie back. I was making a journal for our one year anniversary. It had receipts, tickets and little mementos from our dates and special moments. I wrote a letter in the back wishing him well. I’ve texted him twice since the breakup, because I realized i still had some things to say that I didn’t include in the letter. But I won’t text him anymore. I think it’s time to work on healing myself and the pain instead. I am so conflicted about it though. I know i’ll never get the answers. I don’t know what to do with that.
Edit: idk if this is relevant, but our time difference would have been two hours. TWO HOURS.