“He was always super sweet and did a lot for me, and I started feeling bad for not reciprocating, so I kinda started “flirting” back.”
She flirted in a pretty measured way, though, as she was concerned that he had just exited a relationship that he was in for some time.
She knew it would be strange to jump right into something with him, so she did keep her distance a bit.
But things progressed between them; they ended up cuddling a lot, and then he asked her out on a date.
The date itself was wonderful, but in the days that followed, she felt that something was off. Her friend then texted her, asking if they could have a chat.
She agreed, and during that conversation, he revealed to her that he was still hung up on his ex-girlfriend.
He did go into greater detail, but she felt so silly for misreading the signs that she couldn’t even concentrate on everything that he said.
She did question him about if he felt anything for her or if he was using her as a “rebound,” but he claimed to feel something for her.
He pointed out that the timing was off for him, and he asked if they could still stay friends. Although she was crushed, she said yes to keeping their friendship going.
They have a ton of friends in common, so it would have been difficult to cut him out of her life completely.
That super awkward chat that they had was 2 months back, and while she is done having feelings for him, she feels that he really damaged her self-esteem.