I (25F) still feel hurt and jealous about two things that happened during the first two years of my relationship (26M)
I (25F) have been with my boyfriend (26M) for 6 years. We started dating when we were 19/20. Our relationship has been good for years, and we haven't had any problems like this since the first two years. But I still feel hurt and jealous when I think about two things that happened early on.
My boyfriend had an ex, “Emily,” who had been his friend since childhood. They dated briefly before we met, and he says he never had strong feelings for her. After they broke up, they stayed in the same friend group. Early in our relationship, I noticed Emily sometimes seemed overly interested in him—long hugs, trying to get his attention, etc, and one night in particular she got drunk and spent almost the entire evening trying to talk to him and stay near him. I got increasingly uncomfortable, and we ended up arguing about it afterward.
He kept insisting that it was normal for her to act that way because she'd taken the breakup badly, had struggled emotionally afterward, and had even needed therapy to deal with it. He said he felt sorry for her but had no romantic interest in her whatsoever. I understood that, but it still bothered me that he seemed more focused on explaining her behavior than acknowledging how uncomfortable the situation made me. He never reciprocated and always kept appropriate distance, so I eventually stopped worrying about it.
Then, during our first couple of years together, a planned karaoke night with his old school friends ended up being moved to his house because of technical problems. Emily was one of the six people there. Everyone drank, sang karaoke and stayed for hours. I wasn't invited because one guy in the group wanted a night out with their old school friends, even though most of them were in relationships.
I got angry that he was comfortable hosting his ex while drinking for hours without me. He genuinely didn't understand why I'd be upset and said she was just one of six friends. He also pointed out that he would never have a problem with me being around my own exes, which is true. He apologized afterward, and i believe nothing inappropriate happened.
The other incident is more complicated. Before we officially started dating, my boyfriend had kissed another girl—June—at her birthday party at her house. It was only a kiss and some over-the-clothes touching, and they never did anything afterward. A few weeks later, he had his first kiss with me, and once we started seeing each other, he didn't pursue anyone else. He says he even told June he liked someone else (me) when his feelings for me were developing.
He told me early in our relationship that he'd kissed June before me. A year later, she invited both of us to her current birthday party at her house with several friends. He genuinely believed he'd already told me about her and didn't think I would fail to connect the name with the person hosting the party.
Months later, I realized the party had been at the same June's house. I was furious because I felt he should have explicitly told me, rather than assuming I'd make the connection. He insists he wasn't hiding anything and honestly thought he'd been transparent.
He say he invite me because he wanted me to meet his whole friend group and make sure everyone knew we were in a relationship. His ex, Emily, was also in the party.
I know neither situation involved cheating. I also know he's never repeated either behavior, and for the last four years he's been completely trustworthy. Still, I sometimes feel jealous and resentful about what happened.
So, im wrong for being upset about these things, even though they happened years ago and my boyfriend has given me no reason since then to distrust him? Or am I holding onto something I should have let go of by now?
Posted Aug 12, 2026, 2:12 PM UTC