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Tell Me About It: Pal was right about cheating boyfriend

Question: A friend told me she "suspected" my boyfriend was cheating, I insisted he wasn't and that she was being spiteful, and a week later it turned out she was right. Now I know I need to apologize to her, but part of me is annoyed she didn't just say initially that she was sure about it. Is that expecting too much?

Question:

A friend told me she "suspected" my boyfriend was cheating, I insisted he wasn't and that she was being spiteful, and a week later it turned out she was right. Now I know I need to apologize to her, but part of me is annoyed she didn't just say initially that she was sure about it. Is that expecting too much?

Answer: What would you have thrown at her then - that she was spiteful and a liar, too?

You just got awful news, I'm sorry. But don't take that out on the messenger. You don't need to agree with her approach to recognize her intentions: to plant a seed and hope you'd take it from there. Conflicting impulses, to protect friends and avoid meddling, are common.

So eat your crow straight up, unseasoned by face-saving "But you shoulda . . ." accusations.

In fact, since you reflexively attacked her character, your work isn't finished with the (profuse) apology. Also ask yourself whether you're quick to find fault in others but slow to do so in yourself. There could be value in this disaster if it unearths a bad hubris habit - especially since it's easy to fix, if initially hard to admit.

Question: I started liking this guy during my freshman year of college. We had some romantic involvement, but things were always rocky because neither of us wanted to date, due to the fact that we both fulfilled that stereotype of college kids, constantly partying, hooking up with random people, etc.

During this period, I slept with someone in his frat - he went to my high school and I'd had a crush on him since I was a freshman in high school.

Later in the year, the first boy and I began to date. We've been dating for about three months now, but there's one huge problem: After a week of dating, he found out about his frat brother. He's been upset ever since and tells me he still loses sleep over it. We've talked about it countless times, and he tells me that if he can't get over it we will have to break up. I like this guy so much, and I desperately want to get past this. What can I do?

Answer: Put this union out of its misery, and break up with him. As follows (thematically, not verbatim, of course): "We both came to each other through other people. I am not just grudgingly OK with that - I'm glad you turned out the way you did and accept how you got there. I hope someday you can do the same for me, but until you can, I can't date you. I'm sorry."

We can debate whether it matters that you used to crush on the frat brother; that the frat brother possibly (undoubtedly?) said some choice things about you; that there are double standards involved. We can even feel for your boyfriend for his unwelcome knowledge/imagery. But unless you left something out, you're paying dearly for not doing anything wrong.

You've talked "countless times," but the second conversation, maybe third, was the perfect time to remind him there's nothing more to be said. How many months are you ready to burn, trying to undo what can't be undone?

Question: I've fallen for a great guy. Unfortunately, we will soon be living in two countries that couldn't be farther apart.

The physical pain of losing his companionship is almost unbearable.

We are (fairly) young, and reason tells me we will both move on in time. My question is how to move on more quickly? I don't like being haunted by "what ifs."

Answer: I'm sorry, there's no such thing as a grief accelerant.

There's just life after each other, at the pace that feels right, until you feel right.