My boyfriends friends hate me, am I to blame? I don’t know what to do?

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Im really sorry this is long but I’ll try and condense it, any help is greatly appreciated! I’ll change the names too...

My bf and I Sam have been together for 4 years. In our first year of a relationship, he introduced me to his best friend, Jacob. We all got along great, and Jacob told me about his girlfriend at university, Lauren. I had never met Lauren, but knew of her and she knew who I was too. We were all discussing double dating, going out together etc.

One night Jacob and Sam were planning a boys night out and decided to experiment with drugs. Sam never takes drugs, and wanted to experiment once, so I finally agreed if it was only once. I don’t want to condone drugs, but would like to say, this has only happened once and will never happen again. Anyway, Lauren is very very against ANY drugs (even smoking). The boys went out and I was at home, and Lauren messaged me on Instagram (at this point I had never spoken to her directly, only through Jacob, about her). She frantically asked me if the boys were doing drugs, she told me someone in her family had died of an overdose before and she was very against drugs. She had asked Jacob not to do drugs and he promised her he wouldn’t. I felt a bit guilty and thought it was pretty crappy of Jacob to lie, so yes I told Lauren the truth. I told her it was a one time thing, as Sam had told me. Anyway, she obviously told Jacob she knew, and Jacob was pissed off for a bit at me. Lauren didn’t talk to Jacob for a bit but eventually they resolved things. And things got back to normal with all of us. I didn’t talk to Jacob much, however Lauren and I became close.

We would message on Instagram like friends, just generally and she told me stuff about her relationship, asked about mine etc. About a year later, Sam and I were talking in bed. Btw I would like to point out, Sam tells me pretty much everything, we have no secrets from each other. He told me that recently Jacob went on a night out with a guy and a girl from their university. He ended up having sex with the girl he went out with but told Lauren he had only kissed her. I was pretty shocked as him and Lauren had been together for a while now, and told Sam that was disgusting of him. Sam agreed with me and I asked him why he’s friends with a scumbag. Sam is quite shy and doesn’t have many close friends, he’s been friends with Jacob since they were kids and finds it hard to cut ties if he doesn’t agree with his behaviour, as sometimes our friends do tit things.

Anyway, a few days later, Lauren messaged me and said she knew Jacob had kissed a girl on a night out, called Amy. However she doesn’t know if she believes him. She said she had a gut feeling it was more than this, but Jacob insists it was just a kiss. She had messaged Amy and begged her to just tell her if it was a kiss or more, however Amy just said “I don’t want to get involved in your relationship, please stop messaging me” (totally against girl code btw). Lauren asked me if Sam had told me anything about it.

This was a huge dilemma for me. I told Sam about this and said I wouldn’t do anything unless he gave me the green light. Sam said if I told Lauren what happened it would effectively ruin his relationship with Jacob forever. But Lauren was my friend now, not a stranger. I asked Sam how he would feel if he was in her position, or if I had cheated on him, and people weren’t telling him. After some talking, he said I could tell Lauren. I told her, she effectively dumped Jacob and Jacob cut ties with Sam for telling me and “causing him to get dumped”.

Sam blamed me for a bit, which was crappy, so I got quite upset with him, but he can see now how the person to really blame was Jacob. Anyway, a positive from this is, Lauren and I became great friends, we visited each other often and kept in touch. But the story doesn’t end there...

So fast forward to this year. After two years of working it out, Jacob and Sam became friends again. I don’t talk to Jacob anymore, but Sam talks to him a lot. Turns out Jacob had told their friendship group what happened, with his own personal spin on it, basically making it look like I purposefully meddled in Jacob and Lauren’s relationship from the start and fed ideas into Lauren’s head about dumping him. They also all make running jokes like “better not let (me) meet any of our girlfriends, she’ll get us dumped!” And they refuse to talk about girls they’re dating in front of Sam, in case he tells me and I “meddle” again. This is actually really hurtful because at the time I felt like I was doing the right thing...I don’t tell Sam but this does really upset me. Sadly he doesn’t stick up for me in fear of falling out with them and I don’t want to push him because like I said he’s really shy and doesn’t have many friends and I know it would get him really depressed to start confrontation with them (they’re very toxic masculinity).

So for that reason I distance myself from Sam’s friends. Anyway, soon, Sam and I are going to visit his parents in a different country and his friends will be there. I haven’t seen Jacob for years, before the whole cheating thing and I’ve never met the others.

My questions are, what should I do? I’m scared, anxious, worried...did I do the wrong thing? Am I an awful person? I feel like they think I’m a bitchy, evil, interfering girlfriend and I’m far from it...I still feel so bad about what happened, so any advice is welcomed

Thank you xxx
 
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No you aren’t in the wrong. She deserved know. He was never gonna tell her was he let’s face it. He’s just annoyed you told her and then thought he’d be spiteful and turn it around on you ... I don’t really have much advice about the holiday as if it was me I would probably ignore him as he sounds like a dick
 
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No you aren’t in the wrong. She deserved know. He was never gonna tell her was he let’s face it. He’s just annoyed you told her and then thought he’d be spiteful and turn it around on you ... I don’t really have much advice about the holiday as if it was me I would probably ignore him as he sounds like a dick
I’m trying to get out of meeting them, even though I know eventually I will have to face them. I just have severe anxiety about it.

I know if I didn’t tell Lauren, she probably would have found out eventually and dumped him anyway. He just wanted someone to blame, and unfortunately everyone blamed me
 
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The only person who did anything wrong was Jacob. If he hadn’t have cheated none of the rest of it would ever have happened. He’s responsible for all of it. I can completely empathise with the position you were in, it’s horrible you were put there. People don’t like to admit that they’re the bad person in a story so of course Jacob would blame you. Pathetic though that he can completely overlook how he created the whole situation. Maybe he’s grown up a bit by now, he might be a bit different towards you in person. But hold your head up high, you are not the villain of this story!
 
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Not your fault at all. I mean obviously a man who has cheated and doesn’t want to take responsibility (or he would’ve told his gf himself) is going to try to shift the blame to the nearest person, this time you. I would be pissed at my partner being too spineless to stand up for me with his friends though ngl. Maybe next time they say ‘she’ll get us dumped’ smile and say ‘only if you cheat and lie about it again :)’ I would!
 
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The only person who did anything wrong was Jacob. If he hadn’t have cheated none of the rest of it would ever have happened. He’s responsible for all of it. I can completely empathise with the position you were in, it’s horrible you were put there. People don’t like to admit that they’re the bad person in a story so of course Jacob would blame you. Pathetic though that he can completely overlook how he created the whole situation. Maybe he’s grown up a bit by now, he might be a bit different towards you in person. But hold your head up high, you are not the villain of this story!
I really hope he’s grown up. My bf tells me it’s not Jacob that makes most of the comments and apparently he has matured a bit. It’s his other friends who have actually never met me, which really sucks that they’ve formed an opinion of me already

Not your fault at all. I mean obviously a man who has cheated and doesn’t want to take responsibility (or he would’ve told his gf himself) is going to try to shift the blame to the nearest person, this time you. I would be pissed at my partner being too spineless to stand up for me with his friends though ngl. Maybe next time they say ‘she’ll get us dumped’ smile and say ‘only if you cheat and lie about it again :)’ I would!
I was really upset he doesn’t stand up for me. It hurts deep down. Also these comments aren’t face to face, they’re over messenger, and Sam tells me about them and laughs along and says it’s “just a joke”. I try not to react just to keep the peace but I don’t know how much longer I can ignore it.

I am no where near ballsy enough to say that 😂 I wish I was! But sadly no...I would probably just turn red and ignore it. Sam wouldn’t say anything either
 
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I was really upset he doesn’t stand up for me. It hurts deep down. Also these comments aren’t face to face, they’re over messenger, and Sam tells me about them and laughs along and says it’s “just a joke”. I try not to react just to keep the peace but I don’t know how much longer I can ignore it.

I am no where near ballsy enough to say that 😂 I wish I was! But sadly no...I would probably just turn red and ignore it. Sam wouldn’t say anything either
Yeah that would be a big issue for me tbh I’m not surprised you’re upset! He also agreed with you to tell this girl so I’m not sure why he thinks it’s acceptable to let his friends mildly bully you over what sounds like a joint decision? Have you had a serious chat about how that makes you feel because shy or not I think that’s really disrespectful personally.
 
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I’m trying to get out of meeting them, even though I know eventually I will have to face them. I just have severe anxiety about it.

I know if I didn’t tell Lauren, she probably would have found out eventually and dumped him anyway. He just wanted someone to blame, and unfortunately everyone blamed me
Is there no way you can go and avoid him? You don’t owe him anything. I would avoid at all costs but that’s just me. Or simply not go. But then I suppose you don’t want to miss out on missing the family etc. Just go and pretend he is Invisible. Maybe speak to your boyfriend and tell him you’re really anxious about it and I hope he supports you. You did nothing wrong remember that!
 
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Yeah that would be a big issue for me tbh I’m not surprised you’re upset! He also agreed with you to tell this girl so I’m not sure why he thinks it’s acceptable to let his friends mildly bully you over what sounds like a joint decision? Have you had a serious chat about how that makes you feel because shy or not I think that’s really disrespectful personally.
I try and pick my battles, and think “okay if they’re not saying it to my face then maybe I can forget about it”, but I think if they said it to me, he would probably laugh along too :( it was a joint decision but I think he regrets it and thinks I talked him into it. He says it was the right thing to do morally, but acknowledges it more as *my* choice, rather than ours.

I wouldn’t know how to go about having a serious chat with him about it because he will probably say “it’s just a joke they don’t mean it”, so how do I argue that?

Is there no way you can go and avoid him? You don’t owe him anything. I would avoid at all costs but that’s just me. Or simply not go. But then I suppose you don’t want to miss out on missing the family etc. Just go and pretend he is Invisible. Maybe speak to your boyfriend and tell him you’re really anxious about it and I hope he supports you. You did nothing wrong remember that!
I can avoid the outing, even though I know I’m just putting it off, because eventually I will have to meet them. My bf would be fine with me missing the outing, but I’m thinking in the future, we get married, they will obviously all be there. And do I really want to face that on my wedding day?
 
No you didn't do anything wrong. She had every right to know and not be in a relationship based on lies! I don't have any advice on dealing with them - I guess all you can do is just avoid his friends when possible (I don't think you have to have a relationship with them if they're slagging you off, and Jacob can't admit the truth), but just be supportive of your bf in maintaining that friendship if thats what he wants. Hopefully your boyfriend might find some new friends at some point, or realise what a dick this guy is himself? I do side-eye when guys go along with their mates behaviour even though they know its wrong.
 
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No you didn't do anything wrong. She had every right to know and not be in a relationship based on lies! I don't have any advice on dealing with them - I guess all you can do is just avoid his friends when possible (I don't think you have to have a relationship with them if they're slagging you off, and Jacob can't admit the truth), but just be supportive of your bf in maintaining that friendship if thats what he wants. Hopefully your boyfriend might find some new friends at some point, or realise what a dick this guy is himself? I do side-eye when guys go along with their mates behaviour even though they know its wrong.
I really really hope he finds new friends! Sadly I don’t think he will ever realise what a dick Jacob is, because even though he is a cheater and a total hole, he’s helped my bf out a lot in terms of career. So he would never cut off from him.

Trust me I find it a red flag when guys support their friends fucked up behaviours!
 
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You did nothing wrong Hun. I would still go with Sam but ignore Jacob. If he starts being an ar*se then I'm sure Sam will stick up for you.
Also just if Jacob does talk to you just be overly nice it will wind him up!
 
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You totally did the right thing, have nothing to apologise for and shouldn’t feel worried or anxious about seeing any of Sam’s friends. If anyone should be feeling awkward, it’s Jacob. Go and enjoy yourself and if I were you and you get the opportunity, I would have a grown up conversation with Sam’s friends about why you did what you did just as you did with Sam.

Boys WhatsApp groups are an exercise in my dick is bigger than your dick so I’m not sure you’ll ever stop the so called banter about you supposedly meddling in relationships but away from the bravado, they might understand your point of view.

Don’t let any of them make you doubt yourself! Don’t forget to buy a sassy outfit for said trip. You seem like a good friend and I’d be proud to call you one! Good luck x
 
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You did nothing wrong Hun. I would still go with Sam but ignore Jacob. If he starts being an ar*se then I'm sure Sam will stick up for you.
Also just if Jacob does talk to you just be overly nice it will wind him up!
Good idea! I think I’ll just be extraaaaa nice, almost sarcastic 😂

You totally did the right thing, have nothing to apologise for and shouldn’t feel worried or anxious about seeing any of Sam’s friends. If anyone should be feeling awkward, it’s Jacob. Go and enjoy yourself and if I were you and you get the opportunity, I would have a grown up conversation with Sam’s friends about why you did what you did just as you did with Sam.

Boys WhatsApp groups are an exercise in my dick is bigger than your dick so I’m not sure you’ll ever stop the so called banter about you supposedly meddling in relationships but away from the bravado, they might understand your point of view.

Don’t let any of them make you doubt yourself! Don’t forget to buy a sassy outfit for said trip. You seem like a good friend and I’d be proud to call you one! Good luck x

This message really cheered me up, so thank you! You’re right, I didn’t do anything wrong so I shouldn’t feel guilty. I’m mostly glad that Lauren is out of that relationship, because if I didn’t tell her, and Jacob definitely wasn’t going to, maybe she would have never found out.

I think it’s just toxic banter in boys chat groups, and I shouldn’t let it effect me. Sadly I’m not confident enough to bring it up in person and explain my reasoning and my bf would probably ask me why I’m resurfacing an old issue :/ so I’ll try and avoid them if I can, if not, I’ll be my usual self and not feel bad for it :)

Thank you x
 
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Can I ask how old you all are? I’m assuming you are all early 20s???

I would honestly just take it all down a level - stop letting it stress you out! Your boyfriend needs to stop relaying what’s being said between his friends to you - I really don’t understand why he keeps drip feeding these comments to you that the others are saying?? There’s no need. It just looks like the kind of juvenile “banter” that goes on between young guys - it’s just nonsense.

you just need to see Jacob and get it over with - it might be uncomfortable and you might never be friendly but equally it might not be as awful as you are imaging. Whatever happens though you have to be able to stand up for yourself and give a bit of banter back if something was brought up.
 
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The only person at fault here is Jacob and he’s only resentful because he got caught out.

I don’t know if this will help but my husbands friends hated me (called me all sorts) when we first met. He was in a band with them and he quit shortly after we got together. They blamed me for him leaving even though I had no idea he quit and it was a shock for me too. It took years for them to warm to me and eventually my husband had a big talk, set the record straight and basically said they had to accept me and be nice as I wasn’t going anywhere and I hadn’t find anything wrong. They were all young 18/19 at the beginning and eventually they have matured and are my friends too.

I think your Sam does need to say something, perhaps in jest like someone else said ‘only if you cheat and lie about it’. I’d have done exactly the same, you haven’t done anything wrong and owed Jason nothing.
 
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Jacob sounds like the biggest head going.

You may be the main character in this situation but Jacob is the villain!

You have nothing to worry about, hold your head up high 💕
 
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I thinkers best to go and meet everyone and if someone did make a comment about the cheating thing, which is unlikely, just clear the air and say your not going to be sorry for telling a friend the truth and Jacob only doesn’t like it cos he got caught.
In reality I think it’s very unlikely anyone would bring it up or mention it and this is an opportunity for his friends to know more about you and have more to say than your the meddler, you can be the really cool nice girl they see makes him happy. Right now they have nothing else to say about you cos they haven’t met you
 
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I think just go and act normal. Rise above it. I think the atmosphere with be totally different when you're there. Show them that you're a nice person and let them decide. Boys in groups are generally dickheads, but it's all just talk.
 
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