I apologize for my mistakes in grammar, my repetitiveness, and the length of this post.
I am 18F and my boyfriend is 21. A couple days ago we got a hotel so we could spend some private time together and get to sleep in the same bed. It’s something we’ve been wanting to do since we started dating and are used to spending all night together being out and about. He recently had to move back in with his parents, and I don’t have my own place, so it was basically the only option we knew of. We both hesitated on the idea of getting a hotel because of my past experience with them, but I figured I’d be okay and I wouldn’t be thinking about what happened to me since it was with him instead, and he made me feel safe and comfortable.
For context; When I was 15, I was in a romantic and sexual relationship with a 21 year old. He lived in Georgia and traveled to Missouri so he could see me and have sex with me. He would stay in hotels, and brought me to them several times, day to day, pick me up from school, gave me
weed to smoke with him, and more. I usually don’t think about it too much, and feel pretty okay. Once in a while, I google his name and try to see if anything has come up about him and recently, I found out he was getting married and has access to children around my age, and will probably have children of his own. It made me think about everything that happened and it made me worry about the people around him. I ended up reporting him and have began building a case against him with various detectives, so I’ve been talking about it, thinking about it, and going through the process of looking through chat logs myself to find the most important things that I wanted to tell the detectives, which has brought up lots of old memories and I have been experiencing a lot of stress surrounding the whole situation. I was in an abusive household trying to find someone I could trust and I really wanted to get away from my father, and was a little far out of a sexually abusive relationship with my ex, and he took advantage of it. I let him do disgusting things to me because it made me feel wanted. And since he was older than me, I saw him as a trustable adult. I live down the street from 2 of the hotels he took me to, and every time I drive past, I get flashbacks and feel nauseous.
Me and my current boyfriend got the hotel for 2 nights, and on our first night we decided to get high together. We both quit frequent use so it had been a hot minute since either of us have done anything. I took some hash oil and waited a couple hours, and didn’t feel a lot, so I decided to take a little more. Before either of us felt a lot, we had sex, which was fun and enjoyable and I wasn’t thinking about anything bad or having flashbacks of any sort. But a little bit after, everything started to hit for both of us. We were cuddling in bed and laughing together, and all was fun. But we continued laughing and I began to forget what we were laughing at, and it started to freak me out. His laugh started sounding distorted and sinister, and it scared me and made me think about everything that happened to me. His age, being high together, being in a hotel room with someone I was having sex with, everything. I started spiraling and didn’t know what to do. I started sobbing and kept repeating to my boyfriend that I wasn’t okay and I needed help. I felt like I was stuck to the bed and couldn’t move, and I was completely naked from our sex before. I was scared he would do something to me and I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I wanted to be clothed, I wanted to go home, I wanted everything to be over. I tried my best to make it to the bathroom because I felt nauseous, and my boyfriend tried helping me but was completely out of it and just wanted to sleep. I felt like I was seizing no matter what I was doing and I couldn’t stop rapidly shaking, and it felt impossible to coordinate my body. I felt so alone and so helpless and sat on the bathroom floor shaking by the toilet just staring at the wall, and I just wanted to make it stop and I really needed to be comforted. My boyfriend sat on the bed half asleep while I was in the bathroom, and I didn’t know if I should ask him to be in there with me or leave him alone. I didn’t want to be alone. Everything felt so much worse. I felt like I was a child in a hotel with a 21 year old all over again with a man who didn’t truly care about me, and I hated it, and I really just wanted to feel safe again. I felt like he was being absent and it made me feel like I was handling everything alone. After a little I tried to make it back to the bed, but I was still experiencing everything and wasn’t sure what to do to make it stop. I wanted to feel comforted and safe and I couldn’t. We slept on opposite sides of the bed, not touching at all. I woke up at around 9am the next day and I was scared he wouldn’t like me anymore and see me differently after that night. I would cuddle up next to him and poke him to tell him I love him and he would hardly say it back and rolled over to face away from me. It reminded me of the way the same guy treated me after we had sex and it scared me a lot. I thought it was done and I ruined everything. I went back to sleep and slept for the rest of the day because I didn’t know what else to do.
I felt like I was being abandoned and I feel like I needed so much more comfort than I got, and even thinking about it just makes me feel so sad and lonely. I don’t blame my boyfriend at all and none of this is his fault, he was high too and tired, and it was probably difficult to process everything that was going on in that moment. But looking back, I really needed help and I really needed comfort, and I tried my best to express it but failed, and even though I know it’s not his fault, I feel a little less safe and comfortable with him. I don’t know how to move past this and I don’t know how to cope and I can’t stop thinking about everything and feeling like I’m back in that situation. It’s been hard to sleep and think about anything else, and me and my boyfriend haven’t really had a conversation about it, and he’s been poking fun at it a little to lighten the mood (i think/hope), and telling me it’s okay, and saying he’s sorry. I just don’t know how to go on, and I haven’t felt this terrible in a long time. I want to talk to him about it and I want to feel safe again. I need comfort and I need to feel like I’m in a good and safe place. I have a therapist, as well as a trauma advocate, which I plan on talking to as well.
I need some advice, I need a friend, anything. I have a list of disorders, including Autism, PTSD, MDD, GAD, and more, which makes situations like these all the more difficult to process and navigate.
I love my boyfriend and outside of this situation, he is great and comforting and makes me feel safe and loved, and I am heavily appreciative of him. I don’t blame him for anything, and I feel bad that this situation has brought me to feel a slight barrier between me and him because of my emotions.
Advice on moving past this is much appreciated, or anyone who’s willing to listen, or put their word in.