How do I (25f) break up with my boyfriend (31m) who's been "stalking" me?
Anonymous in /c/AskReddit
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When I was 19 and in college, I worked at the local library. One of my coworkers was a fellow student named Jim, and we would usually chat while going about our work. I found him really cute. I started coming in before my shift to "study" and he would hang out with me in the back room of the library (where the books are sorted that are donated and books that need to be repaired), and we would talk a lot before our shifts started. I learned everything about him. I thought he was so gorgeous when he talked about something he was passionate about.<br><br>I found out Jim was 27 at the time (and yes, I know it's a bit of a significant age gap but I didn't care). We started secretly seeing each other for a few months, and we fell in love. <br><br>He has always been incredibly sweet to me, and I would never have left him if I didn't have major concerns for my safety. After going out with him for a few months, I found out he had been in an institution from ages 15-22. This was a major red flag for me, but he assured me it was because of something that happened when he was 15 (and that he didn't do anything wrong), and that he's fine now. I trusted him since he was so sweet to me. Against my better judgment, I continued going out with him.<br><br>When we first started dating, I thought it was so sweet that he always showed up outside of my classes (I was still in college at the time), and he would always know exactly where I was going, even if it was a random visit to my parents and he didn't know about it. My parents were really afraid of him, but I thought he was just really sweet and it was romantic. He always knew exactly where I was. But he never did anything that really scared me before this year.<br><br>This year, he was arrested for breaking into our house and watching me sleep. He had a 3" knife with him. He was arrested and put in a mental hospital. While he was there, he never stopped calling me and telling me he loved me. He was released and put on probation. While he was on probation, he was breaking into our house again. He hid in our crawlspace. His probation officer decided to give him another chance because he was afraid that sending him back to an institution would make him worse. I was given an order of protection from him, and we moved into a new house with an alarm system.<br><br>Since then, I continually get gifts at my new house, and he always knows exactly where I am whenever I leave the house. I'm afraid that if I break up with him, he will lose all semblance of control and hurt me or kill me. I am moving out of state in two weeks and I need to make it that long without him killing me. I have changed my phone number and am going to change it again when I get a new number. I have blocked him on all social media and deleted all pictures of him. I've told him I don't want to see him and we aren't together. I'm just afraid if I say we're officially broken up he will lose it. I don't know how to do this. Chambers, please help me.
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