I forgot you're on here now, @worksbyabigail.bsky.social so I can tag you in these 💗

I annotate in my Kindle, which makes remembering what happened a lot easier when you're reacting along with events. I got in the habit while buddy reading and sharing thoughts with friends on discord!

I just saw my library has it as a digital loan too! Immediate TBR add!

Brains are so mean to us. I'm glad chatting has helped! Wishing you good luck getting through all this 💗

As much as it sucks, better to let him work through what he needs to from that trauma before starting a new relationship. Let him unpack that baggage a bit and organize himself before starting that journey together. At best you cab try to leave that door open for him when he is ready.

Ooof. That's so hard. Military life is *hard* and I'm definitely not military wife material, so I'm glad I dodged that bullet. And just coming out of a toxic relationship, he's probably a bit nervous about the possibility of the next one (whether he realizes it or not). +

We were pretty good friends first, & I enjoyed the friendship. He was familiar, & never pushed past where I was comfortable. It helped that there was physical distance too. I was in college, he was in the military. It wasn't until after I graduated & he got out of the military that we got together.

Emotions are hard, & where you said it might be a trauma response, he might need to really sift & sort through things before he feels ready to come back to you one way or another. But as the person who laid their feelings bare, it SUCKS to just be left with your heart in your hands like that. 💔

We used to Skype, back when it was pretty much the only video call program. When things got too "serious" for me in our conversations, I simply wouldn't sign in for like 6 months at a time unless there was someone else I needed to chat with.