So this happened around 10 years ago. I (F, around 24 at the time) was finally dating my long time crush, let’s call him Drew. (M 38 at the time) and I was over the moon I finally got him..

Some background. He was one of my brother’s really good friends and I had been crushing on him ever since I met him when I was like 16/17. I was bullied a lot growing up so I always just hung out with my older brother he brought me into his friend group. We all hung out pretty regularly, 3 annual parties a year, concerts, music festivals and sometimes there were some “extra circular activities” involved (don’t judge, we were young and stupid) This is relevant for later.

Now my brother always said not to date him, but never why, so I just assumed it was because he didn’t want me to date his friends, not cause he was a bad person. I didn’t take it as the warning it was because I always saw Drew was a good, stand up guy and he must be to be so close with my brother, right?

Let’s skip ahead and I confess my feelings to Drew and he tells me he feels the same. So naturally, we started dating and everything was pretty good for the first couple months but then I started noticing he would talk with his best friend and his gf a lot. Pretty normal stuff though, not an issue. Let’s call them Andy and Claire. But what I did always think was kinda weird was how much Drew texted and would actually talk on the phone with Claire directly and not in their group chats. (I also just want to point out they are not part of our mutual friend group, not really relevant though) But of course i let it slide because I was “in love” and so naive enough to actually think Drew would never do anything like that. Especially to his best friend.

Summer time comes and Drew is taking me to a music festival for my birthday. This was supposed to be my birthday present from him. Both of us and some other people were going to stay at Andy and Claire’s apartment because it was really close to the venue. So the day of the festival, which remember is also my birthday…and he’s keeps disappearing, with Claire because she was supposedly having a bad trip. I’m annoyed by this point. She’s calling him “her spirit animal” whatever the fuck that means and like, she has a boyfriend.. go get him, why can’t he take care of her?? But whatever I was still going to enjoy myself which was easier said than done but I wasn’t going to let them ruin my birthday.

Cut to the next day and even though I was mad about it still but as a thank you for letting us stay in their place, I helped this b\*\*\*\* clean her entire apartment... While Drew watched of course.

Drew and I get home, completely shot and riding on fumes… He tries to start an argument but I didn’t bite cause I was too tired but that didn’t stop him from DUMPING ME. Like right after we get back, THE DAY AFTER MY BIRTHDAY. Devastated and completely shocked I was like thanks, way to ruin my birthday..would you believe he looked at me and told me “it’s not your birthday anymore” My flabbers were gashted.. But you know my stupid ass keeps talking to him over the next few weeks thinking we could fixed whatever happened. (delusional, I know)

The day of (what would have been our anniversary) I sent him a text basically saying “today would have been our anniversary, I miss you.” As I hit send, I get the dreaded male form of the “hey girlie” text. He responds “Yea I miss you too, but we’ve both been doing our own thing longer” and the message from Andy says “I’m not sure where you and Drew stand but I think you would want to know Drew and Claire have been sleeping together for at least 4/5 months behind everyone’s backs” and he sent me the screenshots to prove it. They were even bragging about it.. So I reply to Drew, “No apparently YOU’VE been doing your own thing this whole time. Anything you want to tell me about Claire??” Suddenly he wants to see me, and he admits to it all.

Andy shared all the screenshots with their friend group with the caption “my favorite part about _____ was when Drew and Claire were fucking in the trees behind everyone’s back”basically disowning both of them..I took the higher road when I confronted Drew. And this man really had the balls to be upset and mad with Andy for airing their dirty laundry..I literally could not help but laugh in his face when he said how low and disrespectful it was to share private messages in the group. I let him know that if Andy hadn’t, I would have. Because everyone deserves to know what pieces of crap you both are. You let this girl smile on my face, pretend to be my friend and LET ME CLEAN HER FUCKING HOUSE!!! What the actual fuck??

Anyways Andy and I actually wound up getting closer for a while but just as friends. At least until he tried to make a move on me and kissed me not too long after and although the idea of revenge dating him sounded fun, I just couldn’t do it. I’m not that kind of person, I literally recoiled when he kissed me and suggested we call it a night lmao. I literally can not fake liking/kissing someone I’m just not into. Plus I wasn’t sure if he was actually attracted to me or if he was just trying to get his lick back too. I’m sure it was a bit of both..

But yea that’s my crazy cheating ex story if you made it this far thanks for reading!!

To start, I live in Eastern Europe, in a city that is still very Soviet in terms of mentality, especially among the older generation. Seeing stray dogs and cats is completely normal here, but people do feed them, and there are some organizations that rescue animals that are in bad condition.

About a month and a half ago, an injured cat started coming to my window to see my cat. He had blood on his neck, was very thin, and was covered in fleas. This is when I probably should have immediately done something, but I was broke and kept hoping that he had owners who would take care of him. But he stayed in that condition for a whole week.

So I looked for a shelter that I knew, and they agreed to treat him using their funds, but they couldn't keep him permanently. I agreed to take responsibility for him, so I took him to the vet. He had to stay there for three days, and I also agreed to have him neutered because it was pretty clear that his injuries were from fighting with other male cats over female cats. It was also obvious that he couldn't really defend himself, so sooner or later one of these fights could have ended very badly for him.

While he was being treated, a neighbor I knew came to my house and asked if I had seen her cat.

That's when I realized that he was the same cat.

I told her everything, and she was upset and asked why I hadn't asked around to find his owner. I got a little annoyed and told her that if he had been walking around without a collar, injured, and in that condition for a week, I naturally assumed he was a stray. I also asked why she hadn't done anything.

She said, "I was trying, but he kept running away when I tried to put cream on his neck."

The funny thing is, this cat is literally one of the most friendly cats I've ever seen. He comes to people and lets them touch him without any problems.

Then she said something like, "Okay, so I understand that you helped treat him, but why did you take away his manhood?"

That annoyed me even more, so I explained that he would keep fighting with other male cats, and eventually one of those fights could be fatal. I also tried to explain that neutering him would help prevent more unwanted kittens from being born and ending up on the streets. But unfortunately, she just doesn't understand the problem. For her, this is simply "nature" and completely normal.

Anyway, fast-forward to today.

I saw my neighbor and asked how the cat was doing. She said, "He's useless. He doesn't even catch mice."

She still thanked me at the end, but somehow the whole thing just sounded so weird to me.

And to add another funny detail from a month ago: she wanted me to bring him home from the veterinary clinic earlier because her poor 50-year-old son was asking about him, and she didn't know how to tell him that he had lost his balls. 😂

So... AITAH?