Pls help, I wish to understand

Hi all,

My long distance girlfriend (F21) and I have been seeing each other for a few years now. Neither one of us has ever had an outbreak before and to my knowledge we’ve never even had a cold sore on our lips.

She recently broke the news to me that a couple weeks ago, she had an outbreak of sores in her groin area and she claims she has no idea how she got it and didn’t even know what it was. She went to the doctor and the doctor told her she believes it is genital herpes that has probably laid dormant for years and randomly got retriggered for some reason. She was sick with a cold this same week and also very stressed out. My partner has been with a couple other people before me and they had not used protection.

I am a bit in shock and confused. I am not sure how this virus works and she and I have not had intercourse in a long time due to distance. I don’t want to jump to this being a case of cheating so I am keeping my options open and trying to learn as she was sick with a cold and stressed the same week.

Is it possible to not have an outbreak even right after somebody with oral herpes goes down on you where it would randomly breakout years later? Why wouldn’t she have had an outbreak right after that person went down on her in the typical 1-3 week timeline people have?

Any help and insight would be so appreciated. I would love to learn more to best support her while also understanding what could possibly be going on and if I should be concerned for myself.

Thank you!!