Just curious if anyone has any personal experience with forgiving a significant other for cheating on them? (in my case cheating means making out with another girl) Obviously physical intimacy is not the most important part of a relationship, but trust is. Popular culture has a strong "one a cheater, always a cheater" belief, but has anyone had a relationship where they have been cheated on or cheated on someone, and gotten over it and fixed the relationship? I really love my boyfriend, and we're are going through a tough time, both in our relationship and personally, and would like to have enough faith in people in general and him specifically to think we can get through this and be happy. It would help if people had more detailed thoughts or experiences than just dump him and get over it. Thanks for your help.

How old are the two of you?

How long have you been together as a couple?

Was your SO drinking at the time he cheated?

I am 21, he is 22. We have been together for a year. At the beginning of our relationship we were not officially dating, and were not monogamous. We have been in a serious relationship for 4 or so months, and I think it has been a big adjustment period for both of us, he just graduated in the spring and I am in December, so there are a lot of scary life decisions ahead of us. He was drinking heavily, with one of his good female friends. He admits he's always been attracted to her/ curious about hooking up with her, and knew her before we were involved. I can't fault him for that, I am attracted to other people as well, but I don't think I'd ever do anything to betray his trust. I think this definitely indicates we have a lot to work on, I posted a very general question about this under dating, and all I got were very cynical and judgmental replies. People are human, though, and make mistakes, and if I were in his position I would appreciate a second chance.