1. “I didn’t realize for over a year that he was cheating until someone nonchalantly told me and even, then I didn’t value myself enough to walk away for another year. I tried tirelessly to prove I was better than the other girls he would talk to and for him to like me. I didn’t even have enough courage or strength to walk away until the verbal and physical abuse started happening repeatedly. I had dozens of people tell me to be done with him and I never listened. To this day, it’s the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done.” – Kelly, 25

2. “I found out he was cheating when I looked through his phone. I never do this but I had a weird feeling so I checked – I was right. I was devastated and I refused to talk to him for weeks but eventually I forgave him. I couldn’t leave the 5 years we’ve been together for one mistake. It’s almost been a year later now and we’re better than ever.” – Jacquline, 27

3. “I was dating a guy who had been asking a friend of mine to go to his place to ‘hang out’ even though they’ve never hung out before. It was clear what his intentions because he was telling her we were ‘just friends’. I found out from a friend and I went back to him because he didn’t do the physical act of cheating so that was the excuse I made for myself to justify going back. I won’t make that mistake again.” – Rachel, 24

4. “I took him back because I loved him and I accepted that we weren’t perfect. I loved him enough to be hopeful that it could work out eventually. I loved him enough to listen to him. But the point is: no one has to be perfect. Relationships take hard work and timing and effort. Relationships take respect and empathy and forgiveness. Relationships take trust – and if there is no trust, then there is no foundation for the relationship to stand on.” – Laura, 29

5. “I found out he was cheating when I walked into his house in the morning and saw him with another girl. I don’t forgive him because he’s a liar and he still can’t admit what he did was wrong. All those years just gone to shit because he can’t even respect me enough to tell me the truth.” – Brooke, 22

6.“I took him back because I could tell he knew he messed up. I’ve never seen him in such a bad place and I still loved him terribly after all those years of being together. I wasn’t ready to watch our future together fall apart from him cheating on me, so I chose to forgive him.” – Sam, 30

7. “I took him back because I knew if I didn’t he would end up meeting someone else, or stay with her, and he’d start a family. He’d get married and I’d end up alone and that’s something I’d never be able to live with. I also know that’s a bad reason to stay, but I’d rather be with him than be alone.” – Josie, 33

8. “He was cheating on me for a couple months before I found out. Initially I pretended I didn’t know. I stalked the shit out the girl. Tried to catch him. Tried to see if he would admit he was wrong but he never did. I stayed for a little bit because I was having a hard time letting him go, but eventually I mustered up enough strength to tell him I knew the whole time and I left.” – Michelle, 26

9. “I saw him with another girl and that’s when I knew he was cheating on me, he started getting sneaky and lying to me, telling me he wanted to spend time with his friends more. I had a bad feeling but he told me there was no other girl. Until I saw him with her, I started punching him in the face. Cheating bastard. I’ll never go back.” – Kyla, 23

10. “I took him back because I’m weak and I’m pathetically in love with him. I just don’t want to live without him. I know that’s not a good answer, but it’s the truth. I couldn’t live with myself if he ended up with her. It would kill me.” – Sara, 28

11.“He cheated on me with one of my sorority sisters, I was really mad for a while. I slept with someone else too thinking it would help – it didn’t. We ended up getting back together because as mad as he made me and as much as he hurt me, I just love him too much to let that end our relationship. We’re both in a better place now.” – Lisa, 23

12. “I came to OUR apartment to find my boyfriend cheating on me when I got home early from a work event. I started screaming and took off. He tried to call me a million times, but honestly I couldn’t go back after I SAW him sleeping with another girl in our bed. It made me so sick. I’m working on forgiving him still but I will never get back with him. I couldn’t.” – Courtney, 29

13. “We were going through a rough patch in our relationship. Part of me blames myself for him cheating because I was being such a bitch to him at that point in our lives, it was like I was pushing him away. As messed up as this sounds it might be what saved our relationship because after that happened we could actually work through our problems and talk about everything openly.” – Ana, 36