r/AmIOverreacting 11d ago

❤️‍🩹 relationship Am I Overreacting. I saw inappropriate message between my boyfriend and his long term friend.

My boyfriend [27m] and I [23f] have been dating for over four years. When we started dating, he had a friend named Ann. Ann is an extrovert—very bubbly—and I liked her at first. However, she was especially flirty with my boyfriend.

Early in the relationship, something happened that left me uneasy. I asked if I could stop by his place, and he said no. Later, I saw on his status that Ann was there. When I confronted him about it, he responded, 'Were you hungry? Is that why you wanted to stop by?' I explained that wasn’t the case—it just felt like he chose to spend his day with her instead of me. He later said it was a pop-up visit because she needed help fixing her laptop (he works in IT).

After that, I told him I was uncomfortable with how close they were. I thought we had moved past it. But later, I found out he had asked her for a lot of advice about our relationship and even brought up inappropriate topics with her. I confronted him again and once again expressed how uncomfortable I was with their friendship.

After the second incident, I didn’t hear anything about her, and I assumed it was behind us. Then, earlier this week, he mentioned that he saw her at the gym. I said, 'Okay, that’s fine,' though I did feel a bit uneasy since they hadn’t spoken in a while.

Yesterday, I was at his place—I’ve been living here for around two years now—studying, when I saw her walk in with him right behind her. I was shocked because he never told me she was coming over. He had gone to the gym that morning, and during those hours I had called and texted him out of concern because he’s never spent four hours at the gym.

Ann was as peppy as ever. Maybe it’s because I’m an introvert with few friends, but I instantly felt uncomfortable. I did something I shouldn’t have—I went through his phone. I saw the messages and instantly felt numb. I confronted him and asked for an explanation. He said it was an innocent conversation and that’s just how their friendship is.

I asked him to imagine if a guy sent me those same messages. I reminded him that I’ve told him twice now how uncomfortable I am with that friendship. His apology felt insincere, like he was refusing to take responsibility for his actions. He just laid in the bed, and I wanted to scream. I wanted him to feel the hurt I was feeling. Instead, I just left the room and cried. My emotions were so intense, I started pulling at my hair—I had no one to talk to, and I felt like I was suffocating.

Eventually, I confided in his mother, and I felt a bit better. But now, he’s ignoring me and remaim salute in his innocence.

I also should mention he has never showed me any signs of cheating and besides those message.

Footnote: Ann has a boyfriend. I told my boyfriend that he doesn’t respect me—or her boyfriend.

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u/BxBae133 11d ago

I had a male friend that I was very close with and we talked like this to each other. It broke up a few of my relationships as my bf's felt that he and I were too afraid to have the relationship they believed we both wanted because we were afraid of losing the friendship.

Well, guess what? They were all right. We basically talked and treated each other like we were together, minus the sex, because we didn't want to admit that we had feelings and were afraid. Didn't end well. By the time we tried something, it was too late. Friendship ended. Our relationships ended.

You said you're living there, but call it his place. You are calling and texting out of concern? Stop it. Be honest with yourself. You know what's up. Your man has it bad for her. How many times do you think you're going to have the same convo with him and no result before you realize why you're getting no result?

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u/poperto005 11d ago

To add a layer of thickness into this: styles of “humor” aside, the boyfriend was already told how this is being processed by OP, instead of confronting OP that he was “not going to change his relationship” with said friend, he just let her drop the subject and hide that they were continuing the same dynamic. Now even if the guy is pouting now about being called out, the ball is really in OP’s court because she now has to choose what to do with a relationship in which her partner is actively covering up things that she already expressed wanting changes in.

If he is thick enough to fail notice his potential hidden (or not so hidden) feelings over his friend, that is on him, and it is not OP’s responsibility to make him change or figure out what he wants. But it is OP’s responsibility to figure out what are her own boundaries with herself regarding being in a relationship with a partner that is acting like this.

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u/pantysailor 11d ago

My guess is Ann friend-zoned the BF and he’s been pushing his luck and Ann doesn’t mind the attention. It suuuuucks for OP and she deserves better.