Sometimes, two people can care about each other and still have completely different expectations.

This boyfriend recently found himself in that situation after getting back together with his girlfriend just two weeks earlier.

Things seemed to be going well, and the couple had already taken a vacation together and spent time with his parents. Plus, they had already made plans for the upcoming weekend.

But then his girlfriend’s son came down with tonsillitis and needed a trip to the doctor.

Later that day, he asked how the boy was doing and wished him well, but it never crossed his mind to drive over or offer to take them.

Well, his girlfriend believed that one decision showed a complete lack of compassion, and before long, the entire relationship was on the line.

Here’s how it all unfolded.

AITA for not going straight to my girlfriend’s house when her son had tonsillitis without being asked to?

Me (33M) and my girlfriend (28F) had recently got back together after being apart for a year. We’d only been back together for two weeks.

During those two weeks, I’d worked 12 out of the 14 days. We’d just come back from holiday, which I paid for (on the Friday). I reintroduced her to my mum and dad the weekend after the holiday, and we had plans to spend the upcoming weekend together and do something nice.

One Thursday before the upcoming weekend, her son came down with tonsillitis. My girlfriend had to take him to the doctors, which is literally round the corner from her house.

At that moment, he didn’t think about going to see her.

When she told me, I asked how he was and hoped he got better, but I didn’t automatically go to her house to support her. She said I should have been there to take them, or offer taxi money because I wasn’t there.

In my mind, it wasn’t an emergency, and I thought I’d see them the next day and at the weekend. She says, “Why have I got to take him when I’ve got a boyfriend who drives?”

Looking back, I can see I could have handled it better and asked if they needed anything or offered more support. I understand why she was upset about that.

Then, her dad got involved.

However, she and her dad feel that because I wasn’t there that day and didn’t check on her son directly, I effectively abandoned them and “left him for dead.” Her dad called me and was angry with me, shouting, saying I ****** up and he doesn’t know how I’m gonna come back from this.

My girlfriend said I showed no compassion, saying I mugged her off and how I don’t really care about her and her son, and broke up with me over it.

What hurts is that I thought we were building something. I took her on holiday because I wanted to show I was serious about her and her son. I was trying to recover financially from the holiday by working a full week, and we’d already planned to spend the weekend together.

And then they had a falling out.

I wanted to make things official then, but she says, “Why should I have to wait two weeks to do something like that when we’ve spent the last weekend with your parents?”

I fully admit I could have done more in that moment, and I am still learning how to be supportive in a relationship involving a child. But I don’t think one mistake means I don’t care or that I deserved to be broken up with.

Her dad was very disrespectful. Every little tiff me and my now-ex had, he had to get involved. He’s very involved in her life, but he hasn’t been around for the first 25 years of her life and now I think he’s trying to overcompensate.

AITA?

Wow! The breakup seemed to come out of left field.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man whose celebratory post-grad school vacation is being ruined by his family’s insistence he’s being lazy.

Let’s check out what the fine folks over at Reddit think about what happened here.

According to this comment, the GF is unhinged.

Here’s a good question and point.

Exactly!

This reader doesn’t think the situation required him going there.

It’s hard not to feel sorry for this guy.

He really seemed like he was trying to build a future with his girlfriend, and nothing in the story suggests he didn’t care about her or her son. He simply handled one situation differently than she wanted him to.

At the same time, expecting a boyfriend of just two weeks to automatically step into a fatherly role feels like a huge leap. He’s her boyfriend, not her husband, and he’s certainly not the child’s father or stepfather.

The way she and her dad reacted makes it seem like he was never going to get the benefit of the doubt. Lucky for him, this breakup may have saved him from a much more difficult relationship down the road.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a stepmom who says stepson isn’t doing enough, despite the fact that he’s working 12-hour shifts to pay for his own college.