7 People Reveal What Their Rebound Relationships Were Like, & You'll Want To Think Twice
Breaking up is usually pretty hard to do no matter the situation, so jumping into a new relationship shortly post-breakup might not always be the best move. And if you're in a relationship where you think your parter is rebounding on you, it's important to pay attention to how your SO proves their commitment to you. If you can relate, then hearing these real-life stories from people revealing what their rebound relationships were like might help you figure things out for yourself. Because we're all human, and whether you're the one rebounding with someone else, or you think your partner is using you as a rebound, it helps to know you're not alone.
It's important to point out that rebound relationships don't always end in heartbreak. It's possible to find love fresh out of a breakup and have it last a lifetime, because naturally, not all relationships are the same. But love makes it easy to see only what you want to see and ignore the rest. While dating other people can actually be a good indicator that you're totally over your ex, Eric Resnick, a dating coach and online dating profile writer for ProfileHelper.com explained that there's a difference between rebound sex and actually developing feelings for someone new once ample time has passed. He told Elite Daily, "Another big sign [you're over an ex] is that you are interested in someone. Not just that you are attracted with them, but you are genuinely interested in another person. It's really hard to achieve that if you are still focused on your ex." But, if you or your partner is more obviously focused on sex, and they just got out of a relationship, "A lot of times that is just you looking for a distraction while you are healing," he said.
Clearly, no matter what spot you find yourself in, things can get complicated. And while you hopefully never find yourself in a rebound situation, these real stories from people on Reddit might make you re-evaluate whether or not you or your SO need more time between breaking up and starting over.
01This person got rebound ghosted.
Oh god I’m going through this right now. Dating a guy for a month that got out of a 5 year relationship in December. He has implied a relationship in so many ways. I think maybe people who’ve been in a LTR maybe don’t know how to act casually, as you normally do at the start? Ways that he implied/acted as though we were progressing: told me he was looking for a relationship, bought me little gifts, text me stating that we’re doing well for having been dating for 3.5 weeks 🤔, made a comment about meeting my parents, joked about us having kids, said we should go to a festival together, told me I make him really happy.
So when I asked him if he saw us being in a relationship at some point in the future, I was pretty blind-sided when he said literally “no, we live too far apart and I’m not ready to be committed after my ex."
02This just sounds awful.
Holy sh*t, this is the best description I’ve ever read. Dated a guy who was in the process of divorce (long marriage, she cheated on him out of the blue). I don’t think he meant to be malicious by any means, because I think he was trying to find himself, but the hot and cold has really f*cked me up emotionally. I’m hoping at some point I can recover from it, but it’s going to be a while before I can trust a man again.
— u/ncdeac
03Don't get serious with someone you're only rebounding with, people.
This sounds like what my ex did. Told me he wanted to marry me, throw out my birth control, talk of moving in, really nice gifts and trips, even bought my mother a cake and flowers for her birthday. It explains why he loved it when I stayed the night a few times a week, wanting me to bring clothes to keep, hang pictures of us up, buying me a nightstand.
Then all of a sudden became distant the last few weeks and then ended the relationship. However he fed me lies as for his reasons for ending it then proceeded to get into a brand new relationship after me within a month that lasted like two months and blocked me on social media. He was married before me and divorced like 4 months. Quite honestly looking back it was all too good to be true as shitty as that is to admit. Even friends have told me they thought he was too charming, too over the top trying to be the nicest guy that it came across as fake.
It is so cruel to do this to someone, I don’t know what I did for him to delete me from his life and block me on social media. All I did was love him. This May be my naive side but I always thought if someone is emotionally unavailable they wouldn’t be out here promising the world and ruining someone else. I thought like hey if he is out here consistently saying all these things about commitment then he was sincere.
04He really should have dumped her properly.
Yup, just had this happen to me. He was crazy into me from the beginning and made me his number 1 priority, called me his dream girl, said he wanted a serious relationship and asked me to be exclusive, wanted me to fly down to his hometown with him and meet his fam and he'd told them all about me. Then he suddenly goes cold and distant and tells me he needs to take care of himself but still wants to see me, he just cant prioritise me. He deletes all the pics of us over the course of a week and I should have ended it there and then but i was so infatuated and wanted to be the caring girl so i gave him space and when i tried to reach out he seemed annoyed/ eventually ghosted and i have a hunch hes back with her lmao.
He should have dumped me properly at least.
05If you're upfront about being on the rebound, at least you're honest.
I'm pretty upfront when it comes to these things - not because I'm a terribly nice person, I just don't want to deal with the fallout when someone realizes a situation has been misrepresented to them.
After I broke up with a serious boyfriend I told the guys who expressed interest or I went on a date with that I had just come out of a long term relationship and wasn't looking for anything serious or exclusive until I felt like I could truly commit to it. I'm still friends with a couple of my "rebound" guys, and my current SO was also a rebound.
06Like, it costs zero dollars to be honest.
I wish the girl I had been with had been upfront with me. I broke up with her because she obviously still wanted her ex even though he was an ass hole to her during their relationship. She never told me why she really couldn't be with me anymore. She just said it was better for us and that she couldn't fight it anymore, she was giving up. This left me confused as in what did she really feel for me. She couldn't even say it in my face. She did over facebook and ignored my messages days after. That sh*t hurt like hell.
07But, you never know what can happen.
I am in one now. When he was initially pursuing me I told him numerous times that I did not want to be in a relationship at this point in my life. That didn't seem to bother him, and he kept pursuing. Eventually we ended up in a relationship type thing without giving it a name. We both knew he wasn't my boyfriend and I wasn't his girlfriend but we acted like we were.
Now, 7 months later we consider ourselves partners and have an open relationship. I have so much love for him, he is such an amazing person and an amazing guy to be around, I can't say anything bad about him, and I would say we are passionate, but for some reason I just don't love him like I love the man I broke up with prior to meeting him.
Rebounds are like snowflakes: Each is different, and each melts (ends) in it's own time. Rebounds aren't always a good idea, but if you're honest with the person about it, then hopefully no one will get hurt. And if you think your significant other is using you as a rebound, don't be afraid to address the situation. You deserve to be in a happy and healthy relationship, period.
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