AITA for asking to borrow $800 from my girlfriend?

I (22M) was in a 5+ year relationship with my ex (23F). We started dating in high school during COVID, and honestly our relationship was chaotic from the start because both of our family situations were unstable.

A month after we started dating, my mom and I got evicted and ended up living with my girlfriend and her mom for about 6 months. Later on, my ex got kicked out by her mom and moved in with me and my mom. I helped her get a job where I worked and we eventually moved out together into our own apartment.

Fast forward to late 2025: we got kicked out of that apartment after constant fighting with roommates. My ex moved back in with her dad, but I didn’t really have family I could rely on. My mom and I had a rocky relationship and she wasn’t responding to me at the time.

My ex and her dad offered to let me move in temporarily, but I declined because I already knew her dad didn’t really like me. He thought I wasn’t good enough for her because I work restaurant jobs and still can’t afford a car. I didn’t want to feel unwanted or become a burden.

Instead, I lied and told everyone I found a coworker to stay with. In reality, I spent 2 months living alone in a motel near my storage unit while trying to save enough money for an apartment. During this time, I still made huge efforts to see my girlfriend. I’d take 4-5 hour bus rides to stay with her overnight, then leave early enough to make it to work the next morning.

Eventually I got my own apartment, but moving expenses wiped me out financially. Around December/January, work hours dropped hard because of slow season and I ended up about $800 short on rent.

After Christmas, my ex and I finally got to have a date night. Everything seemed normal. The next morning while we were sitting in her car before work, I asked if I could borrow $800 to help cover rent.

She immediately broke down crying and said her dad had warned her I’d eventually ask her for money. I instantly regretted asking and told her not to worry about it and that I’d figure something else out. She told me I needed to prioritize my bills and get a better job, and I agreed.

Things seemed okay again after that conversation, but when we were leaving I told her “I love you” and she didn’t say it back.

Later that day she texted: “I think we need some space.”

I apologized for putting pressure on her financially and told her I understood. That ended up being the last conversation we ever had.

The next day I accidentally discovered she had already made a Tinder account because I was still logged into her email. A couple weeks later I looked at her TikTok and found multiple videos about our breakup. She said she’d been expecting the relationship to end for a long time, that she had already started feeling differently about me, and that everyone in her life thought I was bad for her.

What hurts is none of this was ever communicated to me during the relationship. I genuinely thought we loved each other and were trying to build a future together. I know lying about my living situation and asking for money weren’t good choices, but I never intended to manipulate or use her.

So AITA for asking my girlfriend of 5 years for help when I was struggling financially, or was the relationship already over long before that?