How old are you now?
25.

How old were you when you broke up?
18.

When did you break up?
2016.

How long did the relationship last?
Around six months in total, but being young and in what felt like love, it seemed like a lot longer.

How did you meet?
On Twitter (cringe, I know). I randomly came across his profile when a mutual favourite artist of ours released a new album. I slid into his DMs asking if he liked it and it bloomed from there. He had so many followers at the time, so it felt like a strange privilege that he would even be interested in me.

Did you live together?
No, it was a long-distance relationship, but we spent hours on FaceTime every day.

Who called it off?
I did. Even though we’d spoken about the future, following each other to university and making plans to be in each other’s lives for the long term, I always felt like I wasn’t ‘cool’ enough for him. My choices were never edgy enough and everything with him felt like a test. Why did I dress a certain way? Did I know enough about music or was I just a ‘fake fan’? Was I politically engaged enough to keep up with him? Did I give off enough of a carefree attitude?

How did it end?
When I went on holiday with my family, there was very little signal so I wasn’t able to be in contact. He accused me of not caring about him because I hadn’t kept up our daily calls and messages. We argued, and he accused me of stringing him along and said stuff like, “Say you hate me and I’ll leave you alone forever.” I’d just had enough of trying to always be the best, shiniest version of myself for someone who didn’t make the same effort for me.

Why did you break up?
There had been some tension before the incident on holiday. The last time we’d seen each other in person, he’d told me about a party he was going to and shared that he might try and get with someone there, in what I assumed was a bid to make me jealous. He also scrolled Tinder in front of me and tried to match with one of my friends.

Last text from my ex: “I was made to feel I wasn’t good enough, but then I stood up for myself”