Trust between roommates is built on respect, but it only takes one careless action to shake that balance.

That’s exactly what happened when a broken pair of headphones created drama between two roommates that never fully went away.

Is it best to forgive and forget, or is it wise to stop borrowing things?

Read on for the full story!

AITA for not letting my roommate borrow my headphones?

I (18F) live with 2 other girls at uni.

We all get along really well, but one of them has a habit of borrowing my stuff without really asking.

So this bad habit led to broken trust, but that wasn’t the only thing that got broken.

About 3 months ago, I had a decent pair of over-ear headphones (nothing fancy, about £80) that she used a lot for studying.

I said it was fine to borrow them.

One day I came home and they were snapped on one side.

She admitted she sat on them by accident and said she’d replace them, but hasn’t yet as she doesn’t have any savings or a job.

Life moved on and she bought a new pair, but then her roommate had an unreasonable request.

Fast forward to last week—I got over it and bought a new pair with my birthday money.

Literally two days later, she asked if she could “borrow them for an essay session.”

I said no and explained I was still annoyed she never replaced the last ones.

That’s when this roommate starts getting really unreasonable.

She got really upset and said I was being “selfish” and “holding a grudge over something small.”

She also brought up that I ACCIDENTALLY dropped her mug a couple of weeks ago, saying that we’re “even now.”

I felt bad about the mug and offered to buy her another one at the time, but it was a £5 mug vs. £80 headphones.

Our other roommate doesn’t want to get involved.

This only gave her a massive headache.

Now I feel bad because I don’t want to create tension over headphones, but also… they’re mine, and I just don’t want them broken again.

So, AITA for refusing to let her borrow them?

It’s understandable for her to set a boundary, especially after her roommate already burned her once before.

What did Reddit think?

The two can work out a compromise, but this roommate doesn’t deserve to be let off the hook.

It’s both of their responsibilities to make sure this never happens again.

It’s time her roommate grows up and reaches inside her own pockets.

This roommate is just being plain petty.

Protecting your belongings is a battle worth fighting.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.