When you’re a couple, and you have couple friends, one of the greatest joys can be going on vacations together. It beats dinner because you get to see new places or experience new things, all with the company of people that you’re close to – so long as you have similar vacationing priorities and preferences, that is.

However, traveling with a bigger group can be more of a logistical issue than traveling solo or as part of a couple. For starters, you have to sync all your vacation days, and find a place to go that suits all your needs. With the right couple friends, this can be a lot of fun, and if your buddies are chill people who just want to go somewhere nice and hang out, the world can be your oyster. But if the friends are a little more complicated, unanticipated complications can arise.

For the couple in this story, going on vacation with their couple friends was a no-brainer. After some discussion, they booked a remote cabin in the mountains, and forked out the money for their travel and accommodation. But then, disaster struck, as the couple friends broke up prior to the vacation, leaving their carefully-made plans in tatters. However, down the line, the male friend found a solution that he thought would work for everyone.

Read on to find out why it didn’t.

WIBTA if I tell my friend who paid for half our trip that he cannot come with us, even though he was invited originally?

My girlfriend Amy and I (32, female and 30, male) have been planning a trip with Tim (28, male) and his girlfriend (28, female) for about two months now.

We settled on going to the mountains in Tennessee, and we both threw in about a thousand dollars.

About three weeks before the trip, Tim and his girlfriend split up, and he told me he had no plans of going on the trip anymore. I offered to pay him back for his portion of the trip, and he said there was no need to, and to consider the money he chipped in as a gift.

I told him I have no issues with paying him back, and he said not to worry and that he hopes we have a good time.

But just before the couple was due to leave, something changed.

Cut to about three days before we leave, and Tim, Amy and I were all having lunch together, when the trip came up. Tim said he couldn’t wait until the trip, because it’s going to be a great time.

Confused, I asked him where he was going and what he meant. He then told me that he not only plans on tagging along, but he’s bringing his new girlfriend who he started dating the week prior, named Rebecca.

I told Tim that I wasn’t sure how I felt about him bringing a stranger along on a trip with us in a cabin in the woods, who we’ve never met before.

Tim then proceeded to go on a tangent about how he paid for half the trip, and that he’s entitled to go with us – all after I told him I offered to pay him back and him saying it was a gift, he said there is now “really no reason to pay him back”.

Yikes! Read on to find out how this couple dealt with this awkward situation.

I don’t want to spend almost a week in the woods with someone I don’t know. Amy is not okay with this either, and I don’t want him coming along if he’s going to bring her.

I feel like I may be in the wrong because, at the end of the day, he DID put in half the money for this trip, although I did offer to cover the other side of it.

We picked this cabin specifically for the fact that it accommodates our needs on this trip, and every other cabin would be twice as much money to do so. We are supposed to leave tomorrow evening.

Would I be in the wrong I tell him he cannot come? I have tried to give him the money back, and he is very adamant about not taking it.

AITA?

It’s quite understandable that the couple are very uncomfortable with this situation.

Not only do they not know Rebecca – someone they’ve only been dating for a week – but they’ll be in close confines with them for the whole vacation.

It would be different if it were different hotel rooms in a city or resort, but this? This would be intense.

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Let’s see what folks on Reddit made of this.

This person thought that he should have been more proactive in forcing Tim to take back the money in the first place.

While others thought that the couple should try to get to know Rebecca before they make any big decisions.

Meanwhile, this Redditor thought that they were wrong for trying to dissuade Tim from going.

There’s no doubt that this situation is extremely uncomfortable for everyone involved – excluding Tim, apparently. Because while the focus is all on this guy and his girlfriend not giving Rebecca a chance, there is the sheer fact that Tim said he wasn’t going on the trip, then thrust his attendance (with a stranger in tow) on this couple at the last minute. If he’d changed his mind and decided to go on the trip, he should’ve told them much sooner, rather than surprising them with the news over dinner.

In fact, while he has paid his share, the very fact that Tim referred to the money as a gift while still clearly holding his own place in his mind, then soft launched his girlfriend over dinner as if the couple should’ve already known the couple would attend, was actually quite manipulative. He probably knew they’d be uncomfortable, and thought that this was just the best way to ensure that he got what he wanted. Because who wants to make a fuss over dinner?

At the very least, Tim should have already introduced Rebecca to the couple she would be vacationing with, so that they could all get to know one another a little better. Because as it is, this situation is unsettling at best.