Cheaters of Reddit, why did you cheat on your SO?

Because I was a coward.

I'd been dating this girl for a while, and to outside observers we probably looked like a really happy couple. Truth is, half of us were but the other half was just going through the motions. We'd go on dates and trips and stuff, but I never really felt any emotional attachment. For some reason I felt faking this relationship was better than not having one at all. No matter how much I wanted it to, I never felt that overpowering passion I had in previous relationships. At the time I chalked it up to my prior relationship crashing and burning horribly, and I was jaded into believing I couldn't feel love like that again. I cared about her, and I could tell she really loved me, so I carried on playing the part of the good boyfriend. I wasn't happy, but she was, so I found consolation in that for a while. But I was constantly mentally exhausted and the numbness made me worry I may be battling depression.

But then I met her.

And suddenly I felt things again. When I was around her I got those nervous butterflies I hadn't felt in years. When I wasn't around her, I was impatiently waiting for the next opportunity to see her again. She amplified just how little I felt in my current relationship. Something about her just drew me in.

But I was still supposed to play the good boyfriend. Except now I realized how much harm I'd been doing by doing so. I'd led a girl on to falling in love with me and wasted so much of her time on a relationship I was never that interested in. I decided the responsible thing was to end it before pursuing anything else further with the new girl.

Except I was a coward. When it came time to do so, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It would have been such a blind sided breakup, it would've crushed her. And even though I didn't have romantic feelings for her, I still felt deeply for her and didn't want to see her hurt. But at the same time I wanted myself to be happy too. I ended up not being able to do it, thinking I'd do it the next weekend instead.

I went on a date with the new girl later that week, ended up sleeping with her, and officially broke up with the former one the day after.

/r/AskReddit Thread