Going from a Triad to a V

KayleeFrye

New member
I'm new to polyamory. I have a husband (B) and I also just started dating a husband (D) and wife (M) couple about a month ago. Things seemed to be going really well with D and M, until a few days ago when M said she only sees me as a friend and doesn't want to date me anymore. I knew from the beginning that she was demisexual so there was a possibility she wouldn't develop romantic or sexual feelings for me, but it really seemed like she was starting to have feelings for me so I was surprised and hurt to hear that she only saw me as a friend. D and I still have strong feelings for each other and want to keep dating, and M and B are both okay with that, but I'm having trouble adjusting to the new relationship dynamics. Its different from other breakups I've gone through because there are more factors, and because I can't really just avoid her like I normally would during the recovery process after a breakup. It's hard to be around her and not flirt or be affectionate. It's hard to see D being affectionate with M when I can't be affectionate with her myself, although I had never felt jealous about their affection with each other before. It's also hard to be affectionate with him at the same time she is (i.e. cuddling together) because it just emphasizes to me what I don't have with her anymore, because I now can't be affectionate with her at the same time. It's also made me feel very insecure about my relationship with D, and I worry that my need to be frequently reassured of his feelings for me is going to get on his nerves. I guess what I'm looking for by posting this is empathy, stories from people with similar experiences, and/or advice on how to handle the situation/my feelings.
 
Maybe you need a break from seeing her until you process things. . Is it possible for you and him to have dates outside of their home for awhile?
 
Maybe you need a break from seeing her until you process things. . Is it possible for you and him to have dates outside of their home for awhile?

Maybe. The hardest part was that she told me this right before the three of us were supposed to go on a weekend trip together. I went ahead and went, thinking it would still be fun, but I think being around both of them all weekend hurt me more than I expected, and caused them problems because she felt like she had to give me as much space as possible and he felt like we both needed him but he couldn't be there for both of us as much as we each needed. So it just made things worse. He and I just got done texting and I had not realized until that conversation that I had caused problems between them this weekend. So I suggested taking a break and not talking/texting for a few days. Our usual date night is Thursday, so I told him to take a few days without texting me and focus on her and making sure they're okay, and then text me Thursday to let me know if he still wants to try to keep dating me. To be honest, now that I know I caused problems between them, I kind of expect the decision to be that we won't date anymore. But maybe the days in between now and then will give me the time to get used to the idea so it's not so shocking and upsetting as it would be if we broke up right away. I mean I'd rather not break up if we could work things out, but I'm like 90% sure that's what he'll decide. Anyway, if we did decide to keep dating I might try not seeing her for a while and see if that gives me a chance to recover and makes things easier. But I do want to stay good friends with both of them, no matter whether I keep dating him or not. So I feel like it's a delicate situation and I don't want to make her feel like I don't want to be friends because I'm avoiding her or something.
 
You can be honest with her "hey i want to be friends, I really do but i need some time to heal from this hurt and disappointment that i'm going though. Please do not take offense that I need a break from seeing you for awhile".

since it will be a vee and not a triad then i would stop doing group dates, you need alone time with your partner outside of his wife so he doens't have to feel like he needs to be giving each of you equal attention.
 
You can be honest with her "hey i want to be friends, I really do but i need some time to heal from this hurt and disappointment that i'm going though. Please do not take offense that I need a break from seeing you for awhile".

since it will be a vee and not a triad then i would stop doing group dates, you need alone time with your partner outside of his wife so he doens't have to feel like he needs to be giving each of you equal attention.

Yeah, you're definitely right about the group dates. If I could do this weekend over, I would probably not go on the trip because I feel like that would've been better for all of us. I guess partially I just wanted to hang on to him when I decided to go, because when we had the discussion when she broke up with me, I had kinda thought he was going to breakup with me then as well. So I was so relieved to not be losing him too, that made me want to spend time with him more.
And I think she would understand me not wanting to see her while I recover, but I don't know how long recovering will take me. It often takes me a long time to recover from a breakup.
Honestly, I feel like now it's pretty much a moot point because I'm pretty sure he's not gonna keep dating me. I know I asked for advice, and I appreciate it anyway. But I just don't know if I'm even going to get a chance to try it. I feel really discouraged.
 
My sympathies. DinosaurActivist just decided that we make better friends than lovers, and while I think this is true and I want to keep the friendship, it's still going to be awkward for a little while since our spouses are still dating each other. I don't really have advice to give, though, other than *do* give yourself some space - I once tried to go straight from intense romance to friendship without giving myself any space and that crashed and burned *utterly*.
 
My sympathies. DinosaurActivist just decided that we make better friends than lovers, and while I think this is true and I want to keep the friendship, it's still going to be awkward for a little while since our spouses are still dating each other. I don't really have advice to give, though, other than *do* give yourself some space - I once tried to go straight from intense romance to friendship without giving myself any space and that crashed and burned *utterly*.

Thanks, I appreciate the empathy.

I'm honestly going back and forth about whether I even want to keep dating D. I care about him a lot and I love being with him, but I care about M too and I don't want to hurt her any more than I already have. Right now I feel like I'd rather break up with him than risk hurting her again at some point because of my relationship with him. But sometimes I think maybe we can do this without hurting her... But I don't know. I have changed my mind on this several times so far. I think taking a few days apart to think about it was a good idea. Maybe by Thursday I will be able to settle on a decision.
 
This does sound like a really crappy situation. It sucks when relationships fall apart even when they don't affect other relationships. If you'd like my advice, if I were in your place, I'd straight-out ask M whether she would support or oppose a decision to keep dating D. If she says 'yes,' I would take yes for an answer when deciding whether I'd want to keep seeing M even though she's supportive. If she says 'no,' I would probably bail. Not because I would sacrifice the relationship for her sake, but because you seem ambivalent and it would be really hard to keep seeing D without her support. It would be a lot of stress for something you're ambivalent about.

I hope that helps. I also hope this gets resolved soon so that you can get some closure. The uncertainty always seems like the worst part.
 
This does sound like a really crappy situation. It sucks when relationships fall apart even when they don't affect other relationships. If you'd like my advice, if I were in your place, I'd straight-out ask M whether she would support or oppose a decision to keep dating D. If she says 'yes,' I would take yes for an answer when deciding whether I'd want to keep seeing M even though she's supportive. If she says 'no,' I would probably bail. Not because I would sacrifice the relationship for her sake, but because you seem ambivalent and it would be really hard to keep seeing D without her support. It would be a lot of stress for something you're ambivalent about.

I hope that helps. I also hope this gets resolved soon so that you can get some closure. The uncertainty always seems like the worst part.

Thanks for the advice. I did ask her that before the weekend trip (and a few times during, I think), and she said she has no problem with me continuing to date him. But after the trip when he and I talked and I found out that the tension this weekend had been hurting her, and by extension him and their relationship, I started feeling like I shouldn't keep dating him if I'm risking that.
If I seem ambivalent, it's only because I'm afraid of hurting them and possibly damaging their relationship and/or our friendship. If I knew 100% for certain that wouldn't happen, it would be an easy decision to keep dating D because I care for him so much and love being with him. But really, how often is it possible to have a relationship without hurting anyone? It seems too likely to risk it. :(
 
I think to an extent M and D need to be the ones to make the decision as to whether or not the tension is something that can be worked on and moved past. It may take time, but it may be worth asking how you can help to make things easier. That may mean getting some space from them for a brief period while M process and also so you can heal and get to a place where friendship with M doesn't feel like a loss. Do you think it is a decision you could all talk about and see what happens?
 
I think to an extent M and D need to be the ones to make the decision as to whether or not the tension is something that can be worked on and moved past. It may take time, but it may be worth asking how you can help to make things easier. That may mean getting some space from them for a brief period while M process and also so you can heal and get to a place where friendship with M doesn't feel like a loss. Do you think it is a decision you could all talk about and see what happens?

I agree that they have to be the ones to decide whether it's something they can work through with me, but I've come to a point where even if they decide they want to keep trying, I'm not sure if I do. Even if they think I'm worth the risk, if I hurt them or their relationship badly, I don't know if I could ever forgive myself. Plus I'm afraid of losing their friendship if that happens.
I don't know. They're supposed to be thinking about it for a few days and he's supposed to text me on Thursday and let me know what they've decided. Initially I was thinking if they decided it was worth a try, we'd talk after that about how to make things go as smoothly as possible. But now I feel like maybe even if they think it's worth it, I should still break it off.
 
It is also totally understandable if you do not want to do it, regardless of what they decide. <3 I know I would probably feel similarly.
 
I'm not really following why you are at risk of hurting their relationship. She ended things with you, even though you would prefer that things continue. You are not being irrational and acting out at either of them, or being difficult in any other way. By not giving you and her husband alone time and space, she put HIM in the awkward position of feeling like he was having to be repairman to two anxious women. I don't see where any of that is your fault, nor your responsibility to fix. Simply existing, and being involved with her husband, does not equate to putting their relationship at risk. If they are both down with the basic premises of polyamory, where's the problem?
 
I'm not really following why you are at risk of hurting their relationship. She ended things with you, even though you would prefer that things continue. You are not being irrational and acting out at either of them, or being difficult in any other way. By not giving you and her husband alone time and space, she put HIM in the awkward position of feeling like he was having to be repairman to two anxious women. I don't see where any of that is your fault, nor your responsibility to fix. Simply existing, and being involved with her husband, does not equate to putting their relationship at risk. If they are both down with the basic premises of polyamory, where's the problem?

They were initially looking for a triad, not a V, so even though they are "down with the basic premises of polyamory," the new dynamic might not work for them and I can understand that. I feel a little weird about it too, although I'm not sure why. I guess in a way it feels like instead of all three of us growing closer together, now it feels like M and I are pulling D in opposite directions. Maybe it won't always be like that, maybe it was just the way things were this weekend, but if it stays like that it won't be workable because it'll be too hard on all of us. I never wanted it to be like that to begin with, but when she and I both needed him, she tried to pull away from him and let him give me what I needed. Now that I know she did that, I feel guilty because we agreed a while back that our marriages were the priority relationships (they don't like to use primary/secondary language, but that's basically what it boils down to), and I feel like if he couldn't meet both our needs, his obligation was to meet hers before mine, and he apparently didn't do that. However it does kinda bug me that neither of them told me what her needs were until after the trip was over and it was too late for me to do anything, like insist that he put her needs first, which I think I would've done if I'd known.

She didn't really have much of a choice to give us alone time and space this weekend, because we were all on the trip together. However she did try and give us some alone time, like when she stayed in the hotel room and we went down to the pool and hot tub. It seems, though, that she needed more alone time with him than she got, although she did get some too. He says she was purposely avoiding him (not talking to him or being affectionate with him as much as she would have otherwise) because she could tell being around her was upsetting me. I feel that is not entirely my fault, though, because they both failed to communicate their needs to me in that regard.

As for me acting out or being irrational, I guess they felt that my being as emotional as I was over the breakup was negative behavior on my part. I don't feel that I could've controlled it any better than I did, but if I had realized how bad it was going to be, I would've chosen to not go on the trip at all. But there's really only one thing I think may have been irrational or acting out on my part: at the hotel on Saturday, D and I were taking a shower together (first time we've done that, and actually the first time we've seen each other naked, so for me it was kind of a special and intimate moment). I had finally managed to stop thinking about M for a few minutes and feel less sad, and then just a couple minutes into the shower, D said something about needing to spend some alone time with M afterwards, and just hearing her name brought all my feelings about the breakup back instantly and it hit me pretty hard. I didn't mind him telling me he wanted to spend some time alone with her - I'm glad he did, actually, because that was the only time during the trip they communicated that need to me - but I felt the timing was really bad and somewhat inconsiderate of my needs to not think about her breaking up with me for a while and to enjoy the intimate moment with him. I just wished he could've waited until we finished showering, you know? But my reaction was apparently upsetting to him because after that he felt he couldn't mention her without upsetting me. So I don't know if I was being irrational or acting out there. I understand that maybe my reaction made him feel like he couldn't communicate their needs to me without upsetting me, but really it wasn't that, it was just the timing was bad, and I feel like he still doesn't understand that.

Sorry so long! I'm rubbish at summing things up briefly. ^^; But I'm really glad I'm getting the chance to write all this out and get feedback on it! For me, that's probably the best way to process my thoughts and feelings. So I think this is really helping.
 
Oh dear lord, all the mental masturbation, walking on eggshells, and strategizing conversations you have to do just to communicate with them! Are these people really worth the headache? Egad, I couldn't tolerate what they put you through. Give me good old point-blank directness over unconscious subtext, stupid rules, and passive-aggressive machinations any day. But maybe you like drama?
 
Oh dear lord, all the mental masturbation, walking on eggshells, and strategizing conversations you have to do just to communicate with them! Are these people really worth the headache? Egad, I couldn't tolerate what they put you through. Give me good old point-blank directness over unconscious subtext, stupid rules, and passive-aggressive machinations any day. But maybe you like drama?

I... I'm not sure what you mean by all that. Honestly this weekend was the first drama we've really had in our relationships. I didn't think they had really been all that difficult. To be fair, a lot of the debating and processing I've been doing with myself in this thread is all on me, because I have a tendency to overthink things and obsessively worry, especially when I have to make a decision. But if you really feel they're being difficult, can you maybe elaborate on exactly what you think they should've done differently?
 
Update: I decided to go with whatever decision they make because honestly you can't have relationships without people getting hurt some of the time but I think we all care about each other enough to minimize that and that's really all I can ask for. If they think they can handle this new situation, I think I can too. Now I'm just worried about what they're going to decide. Guess I'll find out tomorrow...
 
I'm glad that you've made a decision based on what you want and are trusting them to tell you how they really feel. Good luck!
 
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