My girlfriend and I (both 22 y.o) normally update each other from time to time whenever we’re out, so I do understand why she got bothered. For us, 5 hours without hearing from each other is already considered kinda long.

That night, I told her beforehand that I was going to play basketball with friends. After the game, everything just happened back to back — my friends and I looked for somewhere to eat, ate together, and then I drove some of my friends home since they live pretty far.

By the time I checked my phone again, around 5 hours had already passed. I explained everything immediately and apologized because, honestly, I probably could’ve sent at least one quick update somewhere in between.

She replied nicely at first but became cold after and said we should just talk the next day. After that, she stopped replying completely.

What made me feel worse is that this all happened close to midnight, and my birthday was less than an hour away. Instead of feeling excited for it, I just ended up feeling guilty and anxious the whole time.

I completely understand why she was upset since updating each other has always been normal for us. But at the same time, I genuinely wasn’t ignoring her or doing anything shady. I was just occupied with driving, friends, and everything happening one after another.

At this point, I honestly don’t even plan on texting again after our last conversation because it feels like she already made up her mind about being upset, even after I explained and apologized.

IATA here, or was her reaction a bit too much?

u/IndependentLab3845

IATA for not updating my girlfriend for 5 hours straight while I was out with friends?

What made me feel worse is that this all happened close to midnight, and my birthday was less than an hour away. Instead of feeling excited for it, I just ended up feeling guilty and anxious the whole time.