The girlfriend and I broke up last Thursday. It was a mutual, mostly painless breakup without arguing or recriminations. We both agreed that it felt like things hadn't been working since summer. I'll spare you the gory details, but I'd sometimes taken her for granted and she admitted she had been surly and resentful of my frequent travels. We had put it off because both of us were afraid of hurting the other party's feelings so it was kind of a relief. We even agreed to try being friends after everything calms down. As far as breakups go, it was the least awful. But that's not what this thread is about.
I told some friends about the breakup. No, I didn't blame the ex. I just said we were both at fault and that I was single again. One of my female friends, immediately after hearing about it, asked to go out for dinner with me after she returns from her trip overseas. She'll be back in about a week.
About this friend, she moved here in August and doesn't have any friends here. Her department colleagues are a bit anti-social so she was glad to share her geeky interests with someone. We hit it off right away and she meshed well with my group of friends. She's been over for game night and Hobbit Day elevenses. The first time she was over, she stayed until past midnight. I had guessed she was just happy to finally have somebody to talk to about Firefly. She then started coming over more frequently to hang out with me and my roommate.
The day before my friend left (remember this is after the breakup), I helped her move her group project and confirmed dinner, then I felt sort of bad afterward. Yes, I want to get to know her better. Yes, I like her. In fact, I think she's awesome. But it just feels weird right now because I'm single for the first time in nearly two years. I'm also eagerly looking forward to her return, which makes me feel douchey considering it's been less than a week since the breakup. I think I need a little time to breathe and process what happened. Hopefully I can readjust by the time she gets back.
What I'm asking is this: is it normal to feel this way after a break-up? This was my first long-term, committed relationship so I'm in uncharted territory.
I told some friends about the breakup. No, I didn't blame the ex. I just said we were both at fault and that I was single again. One of my female friends, immediately after hearing about it, asked to go out for dinner with me after she returns from her trip overseas. She'll be back in about a week.
About this friend, she moved here in August and doesn't have any friends here. Her department colleagues are a bit anti-social so she was glad to share her geeky interests with someone. We hit it off right away and she meshed well with my group of friends. She's been over for game night and Hobbit Day elevenses. The first time she was over, she stayed until past midnight. I had guessed she was just happy to finally have somebody to talk to about Firefly. She then started coming over more frequently to hang out with me and my roommate.
The day before my friend left (remember this is after the breakup), I helped her move her group project and confirmed dinner, then I felt sort of bad afterward. Yes, I want to get to know her better. Yes, I like her. In fact, I think she's awesome. But it just feels weird right now because I'm single for the first time in nearly two years. I'm also eagerly looking forward to her return, which makes me feel douchey considering it's been less than a week since the breakup. I think I need a little time to breathe and process what happened. Hopefully I can readjust by the time she gets back.
What I'm asking is this: is it normal to feel this way after a break-up? This was my first long-term, committed relationship so I'm in uncharted territory.
