Staying friends with both people after a breakup is harder than it sounds, and the woman in this story found that out the hard way.

When her friend’s ex ended their formally cordial relationship to start seeing someone new, the woman stood by the friend who was hurt.

But then she found herself at a six-person birthday dinner seated her across from none other than the friend’s ex. Despite her discomfort, she stayed polite and kept the conversation light.

So when the friend’s ex took a photo of them together then posted it online, she was worried her friend may view the whole thing as a betrayal.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for hanging out with my friends ex?

My friend (20F) dated this other girl (20F), and I (20F) became friends with both of them. They broke up sometime at the end of last year but stayed friends.

So whenever we hung out in a group, they’d be fine with each other.

But soon the ex-partners began squabbling.

A few months ago, things started getting rocky between them, and the ex of my friend would start ignoring her. My friend would try and sort their issues out, but the ex didn’t want to. I’m not sure if my friend still had feelings for her or not at that time.

Their formerly friendly relationship grew rockier by the second.

Then the ex started seeing this other guy and went to my friend and told her that she was seeing someone and that she didn’t want to be friends with her anymore.

My friend was really sad about it and told me about it a few days later. She’s very sweet, so she doesn’t really hold grudges. She just tries to move on.

Now here’s where I might be the AH.

Drama came in the form of a birthday invitation.

Fast forward a few weeks, and my one other friend is having her birthday dinner. She only invites 6 people. In those 6 people is the ex of my friend because she is friends with the one having the birthday.

So now I’m at this dinner with her ex, and I’m trying to keep it nice and not show that I know what happened between them. We get along fairly well, and we chat a bit throughout the night.

Now here’s where things get really ugly.

Then the group of friends wants to take photos with each other, and the ex wants to take a photo with just me and her.

So I do, because I’m not just going to deny having a photo with her, as I feel that would be rude.

It’s only when I was driving home that I realized that if the ex posts the photo on Instagram, my friend is going to see it and see I was hanging out with her ex.

She immediately grows concerned about the optics of this.

Now today, I see she posted the photo of us 2 on Instagram. I don’t want her to be upset that I was hanging out with her ex.

I do feel closer to my friend than her ex, and maybe that’s why I’m overthinking it.

She never explicitly told me she doesn’t want me hanging out with her. She’s not that type of person, and I’m sure she knows that I’m still friends with her ex since we were in the same friend group.

So should I talk to my friend about the situation, or should I just leave it and see if she comes to me with a problem?

What a whirlwind.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

Her friend should be willing to hear her out on her side of the story.

This commenter thinks maybe the ex wanted to stir up trouble all along.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who feels hoodwinked after finding out the sick father she’s been supporting has plenty of money of his own.

It never hurts to try and be proactive.

This woman stayed warm for one evening and has now convinced herself it was a crime.

Her friend’s ex ended things in a hurtful way, so the sting of seeing her on the feed is understandable, and the woman is right to care about that.

But caring doesn’t require a dramatic apology. A friendly message that explains the dinner and reassures her friend where she stands should be plenty.

Loyalty doesn’t mean being cold to everyone your friend has a complicated history with.