I (24F) and my bf (24M) have been long distance dating for almost 6 months. We met online and started officially dating a month afterwards. The first couple of months were good, we would talk and call regularly and were affectionate with minimal issues. Then he went to a month long training in Arizona for his job, and when he got back, he was acting different. He was distant, didn’t make plans to see me, stopped communicating as much. So that caused the first spike of issues that never really resolved. I kept pushing and asking to make things better because I was unhappy, he would apologize, and nothing would change. He admitted he “hasn’t been trying to see me” during an argument about it. After a month and a half, I was the one that made plans drive to see him. Everything was fine the first day, but the second day, he got home from work at noon and barely acknowledged me. Turned on the TV and ate, knowing I hadn’t eaten all day and was working on my computer in the same room. I went and gave him physical affection to hopefully receive some too, and he just laid there and didn’t respond or look at me. I went to go lay down in bed, he came into the bedroom and said he’s going to the gym and left me there. While he’s at the gym, I look at the bed and start finding long black hair (I have shortish brown hair) and a pack of condoms in his bathroom (we don’t use them). I texted him and asked if someone had been here and if he’d cheated on me, and he just said no with no comfort, reassurance, or questions. When he came home from the gym, he said nothing and got in the shower. When he got out, I said “I’m going home” and he just said okay and let me leave. I got home, no texts or attempts to reach me, and he was out with his friends. I had to text him the next morning to ask to talk, and he just said he wasn’t ready. We talked the next day and nothing really resolved, but he did tell me that he doesn’t care about what his actions do to other people, and he only thinks of himself. He said this was a recent change in his mindset because of work. It’s now been two weeks since I left his place, and we barely talk about things. He’s been on vacation with his family right now in another state. One night, he said his phone was going to die and I said “okay, thanks for telling me be safe”. I didn’t hear anything from him until late morning the next day. I told him I felt like something bad had happened, and he admitted that he went to Twin Peaks with his friend to watch the UFC fight and didn’t tell me because “it wasn’t a big deal” and he “knew I’d be upset”. We’d talked about boundaries before, and both agreed that places like Twin Peaks, Hooters, strip club, etc. were uncomfortable and not appropriate. I got very upset with him over the phone, told him I was questions ending the relationship, and apologized afterwards. All of my friends (male and female) are telling me to end it after I explain what happened. I had a terrible day at work yesterday, texted him about it, and asked to call because I was so shaken. He was out with his friends and just said “explain” even though I’d already explained. I didn’t respond because he wasn’t there when I needed him and asked for comfort. He didn’t check in or anything, and I texted a couple hours later to say goodnight and he said it back and nothing else. I have so much else to focus on like school and work. I feel like I’m disproportionately upset about our relationship and putting in much more effort than him. I miss when he was a good person to me, and I desperately want that side of him back but can’t reach it. My therapist’s recommendation was to wait until he gets back from vacation and then have a serious talk about everything. I’m thinking, giving it one last attempt to either figure things out or just call it quits. He said he wants this relationship to work and for things to work out, but his behaviors don’t match atm. He gets back from vaca in 2 days. Any recommendations on how to approach this, or if I should at all?
TLDR – Bf has no empathy or thought for other people, and is putting in no effort for anything regarding our relationship after a month long work training.
Comments
Give him another chance to do what? Treat you like crap? Why would you do that?
Stop wasting your time.
End it. If he would want you, he would make an effort to save this
In what way is staying with him making your life better?
In what way is staying with him helping you build a future for yourself that is fulfilling and satisfying, a future that you want to live in?
Do you want to be treated this way for the next six months? The next year? Five years? Thirty years?
Does your internal narrative for being happy in the future include the words “and then he changes in the following ways”, or could you be absolutely happy with him if he remained exactly as he is, right now, today?
Saying is ENTIRELY different than acting……he may DESIRE a better relationship, but it takes two to tango. It can’t be one person putting in all the effort while the other continues to ride your coat tails. He’s already demonstrating a lack of accountability, or even wanting to have accountability. I’d say just drop him honestly. You deserve better treatment than him.