A 21-year-old college student said she thought she was sharing a "sweet gesture" on social media last week...until jokes that her boyfriend was cheating on her became more viral than her original tweet.
Your boyfriends shagging your bestpal https://t.co/JR2uFWtvFb
"I was shocked with the online reaction," Ball State University student Abigail Gibson told BuzzFeed News. "I didn’t think the tweet would get so much backlash."
Abigail said one of her closest friends, Stephanie, had been cheated on by her boyfriend and was going through a hard time. After Abigail's boyfriend, Max Kupfer, 21, found out, he asked Abigail if she'd feel OK if he bought Stephanie flowers to cheer her up.
While Abigail spent a night comforting Stephanie, Max "messaged me and asked if buying her flowers would be creepy," she said.
"I didn’t think it would come off creepy or overstepping, especially since they’re close friends," she said.
She added that Stephanie's boyfriend used to buy her flowers on a regular basis.
"I wanted to cheer her up and do something nice for her and show her not all guys are so shitty," Max told BuzzFeed News.
So he surprised Stephanie with flowers that evening.
Stephanie said she was so "surprised" by the gesture that "it almost made [her] cry."
"It made my day better knowing I had people around me who cared for, and supported, me so much," she added. "I really appreciated the gesture."
Good, great, everyone's happy, right? No, of course not.
The often-snarky social internet saw the gesture and came out with a much different read.
After Abigail shared the moment on Twitter, writing, "He knows if he’s dating me, he’s dating my friends," people raised an eyebrow to it.
"Yeah my bf will not be giving my best friend flowers," wrote a user, whose tweet has now been retweeted over 16,000 times.
"That's sweet, but who's gonna buy you flowers when they end up smashing?" someone else joked.
"This is the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen," someone even wrote.
Some are now reading into people reading into the tweet. They're defending Max's gesture, and Abigail's support of it, and suggesting anyone drawing conclusions of infidelity are simply insecure in their own relationships.
"If your friendships are healthy and your relationship is healthy you would understand the pure love in this," one person responded.
I have no issue about this. If I had a boyfriend and they did this for my friend I'd find it thoughtful and kind. Those who think "oh he must want her" "he is cheating on her" need to heal. Allow people to be kind. https://t.co/T45v2rvWjn
Abigail is stunned at the responses from strangers online. She thinks her tweet was "misinterpreted."
"I meant it more as a metaphor...my friends are his friends," she said of the uproar to her suggestion that her boyfriend also "dates" her friends.
Most importantly, Abigail is happy that her friend is happy — especially if it is because of the thoughtfulness of her significant other.
"Max has a heart of gold and he cares about the people I keep close to me," she said, "which is everything I could ask for in a boyfriend."