Aware02 Member Profile

...See more I’m posting this to explain, honestly and in detail, why things went wrong between me and Tott and what I think actually caused her to pull back. We were close for over two years — daily calls, inside jokes, falling asleep on calls, private phrases that became ours — and then I made a big mistake: for roughly six months while we were still together I flirted with another girl (Mirage). It never turned into another relationship, but when she later learned how long and how emotionally active that flirtation had been, it didn’t just hurt her in the moment — it retroactively changed how she viewed the whole time we’d spent together. In her head the trust and the meaning of many memories were altered; what used to feel solid started to look shaky, and that scar kept showing up whenever she read my behaviour afterward. While she sat with that wound, someone new — Dak — arrived in her life at a vulnerable time and gave steady, attentive support: checking in, complimenting, making sure she ate, listening to her cry, reassuring her in small ways. She told me his care reminded her of how things felt at the beginning with me — the attention and reassurance she’d once loved — and that comparison reopened a painful loop. She has repeatedly said things like “I love you but I do like him” and “I don’t know if my like for him is genuine or because he’s been there for me,” which is her trying to name a messy and conflicted place: attachment to me + appreciation (and maybe nascent affection) for someone who met her needs in a hard moment. Crucially, she didn’t hide this: she told me, she asked me to be honest, and she explained her guilt for liking someone while still loving me. That honesty matters — it’s not a neat “she chose him,” it’s someone painfully trying to process competing feelings. Why she pulled back: it wasn’t one single thing. It was a compound of forces. My flirting with Mirage broke her sense of safety and retroactively altered the meaning of our shared past; after that, a pattern of unmet emotional needs (small daily attention, reassurance, demonstrating I’d changed) left her vulnerable; a newcomer provided many of those missing behaviours at the exact time she needed them, which triggered comparisons; and my own present behaviors — slow replies when she was vulnerable, staying in other calls at times she felt fragile, and instances she perceived as not prioritising her — validated her fear that history could repeat. All of that together made her question whether continuing felt safe, and led her to say things like “maybe our end was inevitable” or “I don’t know what I need to feel okay with you again.” Those lines were defensive attempts to protect herself from further hurt, not simple rejections. There were still so many pro-relationship signals that made this confusing and painful to live through: she matched avatars with me, she sent reels about “almost texting you goodnight,” she flirted in voice chat with the old private lines, she still chose to sleep in calls with me on purpose, she agreed to talk to my mum and stayed transparent about who she was with (including when she helped an old friend, Trey, who was upset). Those behaviours read like attachment, not exit. At the same time, real threat signs existed for me: long, frequent conversations between her and Dak, noticeably shorter or colder replies when she was in his call, and the way the Mirage subject would re-ignite anger or distance. She even accidentally fell asleep in a call with Dak for about two hours one time, then left and slept by herself — an incident that felt awful in the moment, even if it was probably not the romantic betrayal my fear made it out to be. All of that ambiguity created the wedge between what we’d had and what felt safe to continue. She’s said some things that matter for how I’m trying to move forward: she told me she still loves me and that she’ll always care, but the intensity and the certainty she used to have are different now; she told me she found me more attractive recently because I’ve sounded more mature and respectful of what she needs; she told me she’s not trying to get into a relationship right now and that if someone asked her out right at this moment she would say she’s not ready, but also that if a relationship came later and we were both single she would be more open to it — in fact, she said that in the future, if we were both single, she would 100% give me another chance. She also told me she will continue to pay for an active subscription of mine (something small but practical) and that she doesn’t expect big changes overnight or huge pressure; she’s said that not much has to change on a day-to-day level — we can still watch movies together, call, and talk — and that she still chooses intentionally to sleep in calls with me sometimes. Those are not neutral words. They keep a conditional door open while she processes pain. If you ask what I should do or what I learned: promises don’t fix everything — consistent behaviour does. Repairing this means predictable actions over time, not endless explanations or frantic reassurance. Practical steps I’m trying to follow: stop being on passive standby 24/7 (I need to live my life, not exist in a waiting room), avoid rehashing the Mirage events in ways that keep the wound raw, show up in small reliable ways (follow-through, steady check-ins that aren’t suffocating), negotiate clear boundaries about other friendships calmly and without policing, and consider outside help if we both agree (therapy or mediated conversations). Also, protect your own mental health: if indefinite waiting becomes damaging, set a compassionate timeline for clarity so you don’t erode your self-worth- is all stuff I've been told. The root cause of why she pulled back was not that she suddenly stopped caring or that one moment erased everything. It was that past betrayal + unmet needs + new consistent attention = honest re-evaluation of safety. She is torn, guilty, and scared; she still loves me and I still love her, but trust is fragile and requires time and consistent proof. If anyone reading this has rebuilt trust after something similar, set boundaries that actually helped, or balanced patient repair with protecting themselves, I would really appreciate concrete examples and practical advice.

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