The Student Room Group

Doubts about marrying my fiancee.

Please keep this anon because I think the girls I am writing about may use this site. Also I dont have an account so I'm using a friend's account to post this.

I'm in a really confusing situation and I dont know what to do. I'm male, 23, and have been engaged to my girlfriend of 2 years for about a year (lets say her name is Holly). I really do love her and dont want to hurt her, but lately I've been having doubts about the engagement because of a meeting I had with an ex (lets say her name is Abbie). We weren't even going out, it was just a fling but I did have very strong feelings for her at the time.

Basically the fling with Abbie happened about 2/3 years ago, just before I was with Holly. We met through a friend and got on really well, I have actually never met anyone else like her before. She had a boyfriend at the time but didn't let me know about it until a few weeks into the fling. We carried on seeing eachother, having sex etc until it all came to a head over her refusal to choose between me or him. It ended quite badly and she chose her boyfriend, then we lost contact.

About a week ago I went to a friend's birthday party and bumped into Abbie there. We got chatting and it was just like it had been between us a few years ago. Shes single now and looks amazing. We spent most of the evening talking and drinking then she went home and left me her mobile number.

I'm in 2 minds now what to do. I love Holly but seeing Abbie again and thinking of what could have been is starting to make me think twice about being engaged. Surely if youre going to marry someone, there shouldn't be any doubt? I dont know whether to mention it to Holly, or to secretly meet up with Abbie, or to just do nothing.

Any advice would be helpful, I really need some opinions on this.

Reply 1

This sounds like one of those 'grass is greener on the other side' type things. If your already engaged you should probably try working things out with your fiancee first to be honest, maybe try and remember the reasons why your together in the first place? And to be fair, this other girl doesnt sound too amazing, not exactly the faithful type by the sounds of it! She was cheating on her boyfriend with you, who she ended up picking anyway... and now Im assuming she knows your engaged to someone and she's giving you her mobile number? I wouldnt meet up with her in secret either, imagine how your fiancee would feel if she found out! Oh and Ive never been in this situation personally, but I think its perfectly normal to have doubts from time to time :smile:

Reply 2

I think it's always a good rule that if you're unsure about a relationship that you're in, you should ignore all other possible relationships - that is, decide about your relationship with Holly as if Abbie doesn't exist, because thinking about what could be could cause you to destroy a good relationship for something that might never happen. What you need to decide is not whether you want to be with Abbie but whether you want to stay with Holly or not.

Firstly, it's totally normal to have doubts about any relationship. You're only human and you can't expect to feel exactly the same way all the time. The main thing is to decide whether Holly is actually the right girl for you - do you love her? Do you want to be with her? Can you see yourself having children and growing old with her? If the answer to these questions is no then maybe you shouldn't be with Holly, or perhaps you just shouldn't be engaged. Maybe the engagement is putting pressure on you and making you feel trapped. Would you feel the same way if you were just boyfriend and girlfriend? Are you just having cold feet or do you really think the relationship isn't right for you? Sorry for bombarding you with questions but you do really need to think about this. A good relationship is precious and you shouldn't throw it away. You need to think about whether you're just having a "grass is always greener" moment or whether you do really want to end it with Holly.

I speak from experience - I got engaged at 19, totally freaked out and broke up with my fiance, then realised I didn't want to break up, I just couldn't handle the pressure of being engaged so young. Luckily he took me back and six years on we're still together and getting married next year, but I think my case was an unusual one - normally when you break someone's trust like that they don't take you back so you have to think long and hard before you do something you might regret. Yes you're bound to think from time to time "what if I went out with that person" or "what if I was single?" but you have to commit to one thing or the other and decide who is right for you - don't let what might be destroy what you actually have.

Reply 3

prettygreeneyes99
This sounds like one of those 'grass is greener on the other side' type things. If your already engaged you should probably try working things out with your fiancee first to be honest, maybe try and remember the reasons why your together in the first place? And to be fair, this other girl doesnt sound too amazing, not exactly the faithful type by the sounds of it! She was cheating on her boyfriend with you, who she ended up picking anyway... and now Im assuming she knows your engaged to someone and she's giving you her mobile number? I wouldnt meet up with her in secret either, imagine how your fiancee would feel if she found out! Oh and Ive never been in this situation personally, but I think its perfectly normal to have doubts from time to time :smile:

I agree just try to remember that relationships aren't all based on lust and do take some effort. If you care for your fiancee and you are good friends then you can make thing work. Good luck!

Reply 4

becky2986
I agree just try to remember that relationships aren't all based on lust and do take some effort. If you care for your fiancee and you are good friends then you can make thing work. Good luck!

Call me an old traditionalist, but isn't there more to marriage than that?

Reply 5

Think its just a crush tbh... I mean, you had a wonderful time then, but youve been happy since with ur fiancee right. So you're just, I dont know, panicking about getting married?

Reply 6

Anonymous
Basically the fling with Abbie happened about 2/3 years ago, just before I was with Holly. We met through a friend and got on really well, I have actually never met anyone else like her before. She had a boyfriend at the time but didn't let me know about it until a few weeks into the fling. We carried on seeing eachother, having sex etc until it all came to a head over her refusal to choose between me or him.


Re-read that a few times then ask yourself whats going to stop her from cheating on you?

To me it sounds like your asking whether or not you should risk a perfectly happy and stable relationship, for one that would be very risky and most likely end in upset.

If you don't feel great about getting married, just put it off a bit longer so that you can find out whether or not you want to get married, rather than making a rash decision on the basis of meeting an "Ex".

And under no circumstances should you meet up with "Abbie" secretly. Thats just asking for trouble. If i found out that the girl i was wanting to marry met up with another guy secretly i'd be so damn heart broken and mad and in just an unimaginable pain.

Best thing to do in my opinion, is to talk to "Holly" and just tell her you don't feel like your ready to get married just yet. Or however you feel.

Reply 7

Doubts about Holly could be down to the whole 'grass is greener' syndrome or something a little deeper.
But, whatever your reasons, you shouldn't be getting involved with Abbie. Not only will she cloud your judgement, she sounds like, well, a bit of a bitch. She cheated on her ex with you - and then chose him over you. Doesn't sound like her feelings were that great really.
Even if you feel she may have changed, leave it for a while. Stop thinking about her. You have to sort it out with your current fiancee. Focus on your feelings for her, not any potential lustful feelings for somebody else.

Reply 8

What you are feeling I think is lust, if you break off this engagement to be with Abbie it will devestate Holly.

If something is not right in your relationship i.e. it has gone a bit stale, maybe you need to work on it with her to put the spark back.

Reply 9

Whatever you do, do NOT meet up in secret with this "Abbie" girl, that is about the nastiest, most hurtful thing you could possibly do to "Holly", and you would thoroughly deserve a damn good kicking, to be frank.

Secondly, "Abbie" cheated on her bf to shag you, and then didn't want you over him. Why would you think that she would treat you with more respect than she did him?

I think, as has been said, that this is a case of 'the grass is greener on the other side', after all, surely you wouldn't have got engaged if you didn't really love your girlfriend.

Reply 10

Seoid
I think it's always a good rule that if you're unsure about a relationship that you're in, you should ignore all other possible relationships - that is, decide about your relationship with Holly as if Abbie doesn't exist, because thinking about what could be could cause you to destroy a good relationship for something that might never happen. What you need to decide is not whether you want to be with Abbie but whether you want to stay with Holly or not.

Firstly, it's totally normal to have doubts about any relationship. You're only human and you can't expect to feel exactly the same way all the time. The main thing is to decide whether Holly is actually the right girl for you - do you love her? Do you want to be with her? Can you see yourself having children and growing old with her? If the answer to these questions is no then maybe you shouldn't be with Holly, or perhaps you just shouldn't be engaged. Maybe the engagement is putting pressure on you and making you feel trapped. Would you feel the same way if you were just boyfriend and girlfriend? Are you just having cold feet or do you really think the relationship isn't right for you? Sorry for bombarding you with questions but you do really need to think about this. A good relationship is precious and you shouldn't throw it away. You need to think about whether you're just having a "grass is always greener" moment or whether you do really want to end it with Holly.

I speak from experience - I got engaged at 19, totally freaked out and broke up with my fiance, then realised I didn't want to break up, I just couldn't handle the pressure of being engaged so young. Luckily he took me back and six years on we're still together and getting married next year, but I think my case was an unusual one - normally when you break someone's trust like that they don't take you back so you have to think long and hard before you do something you might regret. Yes you're bound to think from time to time "what if I went out with that person" or "what if I was single?" but you have to commit to one thing or the other and decide who is right for you - don't let what might be destroy what you actually have.


I agree with every single thing that is said here. And if you ended up with Abbie, having been her 'illicit fling' you'd only be creating a vacancy.