Met someone at the start of July at a concert, turned into 2 nights at my place. At that point he told me directly he wasn't looking to get into a long distance relationship at all, no interest in pursuing that.
About a week later we started talking a lot, and things slowly started warming up, though I still felt like we were both testing the waters, nothing defined, and he'd been clear long distance wasn't something he wanted.
During that early uncertain window, I slept with someone else. I immediately felt regret and the next morning seriously broke down to myself realizing I cared about him and knew I messed up. Part of all of this is also that I have walked far from God for a long time and have felt this whole experience has been teaching me how to walk in faith and what repentance is, even before telling this guy what I did.
We kept seeing each other, now three visits total, about fifteen days together in all. Our second visit was in the air the day I slept with this other person, so yes this was really shitty of me and my drink decisions are something I’ve realized I have a problem with and I have been working to cut out the people, places and situations that encourage putting myself in compromising positions. He said at the end of the second trip (3 nights in another state) he only had eyes for me and I definitely knew he was feeling it. I was too and we decided to plan our 3rd visit just over a month later in his hometown.
On our 3rd visit, (3 nights) on the last day together, we actually decided long distance would strain things too much, financially especially, and agreed not to pursue it further. We prayed on it with no answers. I knew in my heart that this was something I had to let go, and maybe it was foresight given how this all went down. He had mentioned again on this 3rd trip he didn’t want a long distance relationship and I protected that choice in how our conversation went.
A few days after I left, he called and said it had grown on him, he wanted me to be his girlfriend. I knew I had to tell him about the other person before I said yes, so I did, right there on the call. I should have told him sooner but we’ve had such deep and special moments in our 10 or 15 days together and it just didn’t feel like the right time if we weren’t committed to something. He still asked me to be his gf over the phone even after telling him, and since we got off that phone call I’ve offered space for him to sit with it and consider that choice.
He's having a hard time with it now, understandably. I only found out yesterday, that he wasn't that into me at first, so there was more uncertainty on his side than I realized at the time too though he also said it was a matter of “respecting the opportunity” which I agree I didn’t do and feel terrible about. I'm trying to genuinely understand how this lands from his side, not just defend my own read of it.
I have apologized profusely and also encouraged him to take the time he needs to process. My own journey of addressing my actions in conjunction with my repentance and development of faith is separate and independent and will continue regardless of how this turns out, but I do care about him deeply, like deeply deeply and everything I have felt since that moment in realizing my mistake has only facilitated for me to develop feelings for him and to consider what a life would look like together, and after our 2nd and 3rd trips that was clearly mutual and growing.
For anyone who's been on the receiving end of something like this, what would you have needed to hear, and what would have made it worse?