She was ok i guess, till she met the others...

Well, this one's a bit unusual. See, she was a really nice 22 year old student i met at a college lesson a couple of years back. We got on really well, i can honestly say that the first three months of our relationship were probably some of the best in my entire life.

But from then on, it all went downhill.

See, the problem wasn't her (i broke up a couple of months ago after a 3 year long relationship). No, the problem were her goddamn friends.

You know, those people that take sides during a break up? The kind that calls you up and starts telling you what THEY think you should've done? God it makes me mad just writing about it.

I broke up with her because she wasn't dating me out of love or passion or whatever else gets people going these days. No, she was dating me out of fear. Fear of being alone, fear of not having someone to sort out everything for her, fear of not having someone there to reassure you every-fucking-day-of-the-week that yes, you're smart enough to get a job and no, it's not too hard having to work 6 hours a day 5 days a week. I mean, it got to the point were I'd have her in my arms crying her eyes out because she cut her finger at work or because some customer was a bit rude to her. I'm sorry but to me that's just plain pathetic.

I'm not saying "let them all sink or swim". Hell, i helped her out the best i could. Tried working on that confidence of hers her father spent about 20 years destroying. I spent three long years teaching her how to be strong, reassuring her about herself and her abilities, building up her self-confidence and STILL she was needy and desperate for reassurance.

So i broke up. It was seriously unhealthy for her to hang on so badly and besides, it's hard to be attracted to someone and relate to to them if they don't even listen to you unless you're saying stuff like "yes hon, i do love you, don't worry" or "yes hon, I'll help you out, don't worry". Fuck it, I've tried every possible approach, I've read half a dozen books about it, i even introduced her to a psychologist friend of mine and still the situation didn't change.

And two days later i get a phone call from one of our mutual friends. He thinks I'm being "immature" and "too rash about it". He's barely even spoken to me in months and now he thinks he can tell me what to do with my love life?

Even worse, not one, not too but THREE other "friends" called me within a week to start bitching about me not being fair and not treating her right. I mean, do these people REALLY think they can judge better than me what's best for me? Do they actually believe they can see the ins and outs of a three year long relationship without being in it?

Whatever happened to minding your own business? Or to "I'm not in the relationship so I'm not gonna judge"?

It's been over 4 months now and I'm STILL getting the odd glare when i pass them by in the streets.

And the worst part is, these people were my friends, they sat in my living room, shared my dinner and cried on my shoulder when they were down. And now they're "on her side" because she's in "luuuuuuuuuuuuve" and because she's this tiny little thing that you can't help but feel sorry for. I mean, is that all it takes to break a friendship? Or worse, is that all it takes to cheat reason?