Is this cheating and is it fixable?

NSFW

I know what I did was completely my fault and I feel incredibly guilty but I want some insight from others about the situation. For context, I told my girlfriend that I had briefly masturbated to another girls photos on instagram. This wasn’t just any random girl it was one that I had matched with on Hinge from before we were dating, we never met in person or even really flirted or sexted and just kind of fell off from talking. I was scrolling through my old instagram messages and saw her profile and came across one of her pictures and then started, I ended up stopping pretty soon after realizing what I was doing was very wrong and then ended up telling my girlfriend about it later in the day. I was already spiraling before that point and I believe the act was completely out of a need to self destruct and hurt myself without realizing I was hurting her. I realize that shouldn’t be an excuse for the action though. When I told her she was silent which isn’t unusual for her and she had said she wasn’t hurt and still trusted me but that I shouldn’t be surprised if she leaves if I were to do it again or actually cheat. I can’t fully understand why I did it considering how much I love her and everything I do to try and show her that and make her feel special but I know I can’t change what I did. I told her that i’m going to work on myself so that it doesn’t happen again and i’m actively doing so. She didn’t see it as cheating or breakup-worthy but I think it technically would be and I feel like the worst person in the world right now. Do you think it was cheating? Is it reasonable to think things can be repaired in this scenario?

Posted Nov 5, 2025, 1:50 AM UTC

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