20 Signs He Regrets Breaking Up With You And Causing You Pain

A man can leave you broken-hearted but eventually show signs he regrets breaking up with you.

It happens all the time and you probably already know why.

The truth is, people often don’t appreciate something they have until they lose it.

Also, a man often acts like a little kid does when someone takes away their toy.

They almost never touch it, but they throw a tantrum when someone else starts playing with it.

Suddenly, it’s the only toy they want to play with and the most precious one they ever had.

Another thing that often happens is simply karma. Once it makes a man feel what you’ve been through, he realizes how badly he actually hurt you.

There could be a lot more reasons that lead him to show signs he regrets breaking up with you but does it really matter that much how he got there?

It’s much more important to know how to proceed once you see the signs he regrets breaking up with you.

This could mean that there’s hope for your relationship but it doesn’t really have to mean that.

A man could show signs he regrets breaking up with you, but still not want to get back together.

Maybe you’re just not right for each other, and even if he still cares about you, he knows that.

On the other hand, he could want to give your relationship another chance. If so, a much bigger question is not just whether you do too, but whether you should.

Exes get back together all the time, but it most often ends badly.

Why? Well, if nothing changed in the meantime, you’re again in the same relationship you were before.

That relationship ended for a reason and that reason is usually still there.

Sometimes, it does work out the second time.

If both people are willing to change and work on the things that were wrong the first time, there’s always hope.

Still, you shouldn’t run back to your ex as soon as you see the signs he regrets breaking up with you.

Even if he cares about you, he could hurt you again and it would hurt even more.

This is why you need to be really careful when thinking about giving him a second chance.

Maybe you just want to know for your own peace of mind whether he regrets hurting you.

If, so, don’t worry about it. Even if he’s not showing the signs he regrets breaking up with you now, most men eventually do, at least for a moment.

So, if you actually just want to know whether he’s feeling guilty, rest assured that at some point, he probably will be.

I know that you probably also miss him, especially if you recently broke up. It can be really painful, but, trust me, it will pass.

If it was true love and the small problems somehow pushed you away from each other, you might work things out.

On the contrary, if he didn’t treat you right, you need to do yourself a favor and move on.

Love yourself and be aware that you deserve a real man who’ll never let you go in the first place.

As for your ex, many of the following signs he regrets breaking up with you also show that he wishes he hadn’t let you go.

Signs he regrets breaking up with you

1. He wants to be your friend

Sometimes an ex will want to be friends with you, and this is often fishy.

Naturally, I don’t mean when he says, “We can stay friends,” and then never contacts you again.

I mean when he really wants to be your friend and regularly keeps in touch.

This could be one of the signs he regrets breaking up with you.

Sure, sometimes an ex can realize that you’re not good as a couple but he still wants you in his life.

In this case, he’ll genuinely want to be friends, but even then, it could turn into something more.

Maybe he wants to win you back instead. Either way, it’s very likely that he feels guilty and regrets losing you.

He might show you even more care and attention than he did while you were dating.

2. He asks for your forgiveness

Does your ex feel sorry for causing you pain? If he eventually apologizes for breaking your heart, it’s one of the signs he regrets breaking up with you.

It takes a while for some men to apologize, even if they feel guilty, but a lot of them eventually do.

If his apology is genuine, you will clearly see that he’s sorry about the mistake he made.

Most of the time, this is also a sign he wants you back.

He might even tell you that he wishes he hadn’t let you go and will let you know how he really felt about the breakup.

Maybe he needed to be away from you to realize how empty his life is without you.

Whether you’ll give him another chance or not is up to you.

Just keep in mind that he needs to show a willingness to work on the problems that separated you the first time.

3. He shows sadness when he looks at you

The eyes sometimes say the things the mouth can’t.

If he evidently shows sadness when he looks at you, it’s one of the clearest signs he regrets breaking up with you.

You might think that it’s hard to tell whether he’s upset about the breakup or about something else, but it’s not.

Once you notice it, you’ll realize how clear this sign can be.

Let me explain better by giving you an example.

You accidentally bumped into each other after the breakup.

Either his voice started shaking when you made eye contact and started talking, or he wasn’t able to make enough eye contact.

You sensed that there was something he wanted to tell you but he wasn’t able to say it all.

4. He wants to make you laugh

Maybe he broke up with you, but it doesn’t have to mean that he doesn’t care about you anymore.

Things didn’t work out, but he’s aware of how much it hurts you that he gave up on your relationship.

Now, he wants to bring happiness back into your life and help you be your old self once again so he makes you laugh by cracking jokes and tries cheering you up in other ways.

He clearly regrets leaving you and feels guilty about hurting you.

This doesn’t have to mean that he wants to get back together, but it’s still a good sign.

5. He can’t talk to you too much

A person who feels guilty often turns into a very quiet person. If he can’t speak much around you, the guilt is eating him up.

Not all men know how to express guilt, so they simply go quiet.

Maybe you’ve even moved on and the two of you started casually talking like before.

It’s not really like before though, is it? He’s not able to speak as much, and especially not in the way you used to talk.

He probably doesn’t want to admit his mistake, but he’s definitely aware of it.

Your ex walked away or even cheated on you knowing how it would hurt you. Now, he feels bad about it, so he can’t communicate with you as easily.

6. He often reaches out to you

As you just learned, some men deal with guilt by going quiet. Others, though, want to talk to you.

Your ex tries to keep away from you, but his guilt makes him text or call you a lot.

He regrets breaking up with you and can’t control the urge to reach out to you.

Maybe he thinks that he can help you feel better if he talks to you, and he’d make himself feel better too.

He’ll engage in long conversations and quickly respond to your texts. This is kind of odd for someone who broke up with you, right?

Maybe he even calls or messages to ask for advice on the smallest things, such as which movie to watch.

This means that you still mean something to your ex and it’s very likely that he misses you.

7. He started drinking a lot

Unfortunately, a lot of people turn to a bad habit for a solution when they feel bad.

One of the signs he regrets breaking up with you is when he starts drinking too much, or takes up smoking again, for example.

If your ex started drinking a lot or chose some other bad habit, it shows guilt and regret.

You used to make him feel important, and he misses your presence.

Maybe he’ll never admit to you how he really feels, but it’s very likely that it will happen.

Alcohol makes people feel brave and gets them to say things they otherwise wouldn’t.

This means that he could drunk dial you to apologize and tell you how much he misses you.

8. He avoids you

Some men will try to run into you when they regret breaking up with you, but others will run away and hide.

Both these actions can mean the same thing, but let’s focus on running away first.

Maybe your ex blocked you, left the groups you were in, and now avoids you.

This is because a lot of men would rather run away from their mistake than face it.

He deals with regret by hiding, hoping he can avoid the feeling of guilt by avoiding you.

If he hears or sees you, it will remind him of his mistake and he doesn’t want that.

It’s much better for him to simply avoid you and try not to think about what he did.

9. He goes to places where he knows he’ll find you

As I just mentioned, your ex could deal with regret by trying to run into you.

Suddenly, he’s very interested in your mutual friends and attends every party or even small get-togethers.

He wants to be involved in all the plans that seem to involve you.

Naturally, after being in a relationship, you probably have a lot of mutual friends.

You need to pay attention and notice whether he shows up at some events he wouldn’t normally go to.

If he does, he’s going because he hopes to run into you.

Maybe he’ll even go to places where he knows he’ll find you.

You were in a relationship, so he surely knows which supermarkets or restaurants you frequently visit.

Some exes even start acting like stalkers and show up near your home or your workplace.

Once or twice can be just a strange coincidence… but more than that means that he remembered your schedule.

This might be considered creepy, but also might be considered cute, and the decision is yours.

10. He talks to his friends about you

Your ex’s friends probably know about the way he truly feels.

It’s very likely that he has been talking to them about you and told them that he regrets losing you.

How can you know? Well, hopefully, he’ll talk to your mutual friends, who’ll let you know.

Considering that he’s aware that they’ll talk to you, he probably won’t tell the whole truth. Still, it’s very likely that he’ll ask them about you.

He’ll want to know how you’ve been doing and what you’ve been up to, which shows that he still cares about you, even if he doesn’t reach out to you directly.

11. He acts abnormally happy

Some people hide their true emotions by pretending that they feel something the complete opposite.

When he’s around you, he’ll act happy. If it’s to hide that he’s actually not, he’ll show off and overdo it.

This will make it obvious that he’s only pretending but it’s one of the signs he regrets breaking up with you.

He might even start acting this way in front of other people too, as it’s very important to him that everyone thinks that he’s doing great.

Unfortunately for him, the difference between when someone’s pretending to be happy and actually is happy clearly shows.

12. He shows it on social media

Just like with the previous sign, your ex could try to post things that show how happy he is.

Again, if he’s clearly showing off, overdoing it and it looks fake, it probably is.

On the other hand, he might not try to hide his feelings. He could be posting sad songs, quotes, and things that only you would understand.

Another thing about social media is that he’ll probably stalk your profiles.

He might be careful about not leaving a trace of it in the form of a like or a comment, but he’s most likely looking.

13. He’s often alone and disconnected from the world

Some men won’t hide how they feel, especially those who are sensitive and expressive.

He is feeling guilty for breaking up with you, so he’s often alone and disconnected from the world.

This could last for quite a long time. He’s aware of the bad things that he did and regrets doing them.

Different people deal with guilt differently. Some sulk about it and beat themselves up and he might be one of them.

14. He holds on to the things that represent your happy memories

When two people end a relationship, there’s a lot of evidence left that it existed.

I’m talking about the beautiful and precious moments captured in videos and pictures.

Maybe he acts bravely around you and tells you that it’s really over.

When he gets home, on the other hand, he looks at photos of the two of you together.

He saved everything that reminds him of your relationship, and it’s not just your pictures and videos.

All the gifts that you gave him are probably still there and they’re invaluable to him.

Just because he broke up with you, it doesn’t mean that you didn’t mean a lot to him.

He doesn’t want to get rid of the things that remind him of you because he regrets breaking up with you.

15. He regrets it when karma gets him

Some people believe in karma, some don’t, but somehow, everyone gets what’s coming to them.

All actions have consequences and what goes around often really comes around.

Call it karma, nature, the universe, or whatever you like, but something makes sure to teach people important lessons.

If your ex left you for someone else, she will probably leave him for another man.

At that moment, he will show the signs he regrets breaking up with you.

Maybe he’ll never tell you, but perhaps he’ll feel so sorry that he’ll finally apologize.

Even if there are heartbreaking signs showing you’ll never get back together with your ex, he’ll probably still regret losing you.

16. He finally appreciates you

We often take the love we have for granted until we lose it.

Once that special person is not around anymore, we become desperate and ready to do anything.

Maybe your ex almost never gave you compliments while you were in a relationship.

Now, he suddenly appreciates the things he didn’t even notice while you were together.

This is a sure-fire sign he regrets leaving you, misses you, and has realized that he should have valued you more.

Things would have been different if he had, and he’s finally aware of that.

There are things you could text your ex-boyfriend when you miss him if you see that he finally appreciates you.

17. He talks about the good times and how he misses them

Even though you broke up, you surely had some good times while you were in a relationship. Now, he thinks about them and misses them.

He will talk to you about some beautiful memories you created together, which clearly shows that he misses you and regrets losing you.

He probably wishes he hadn’t let you go and wants to create more of those beautiful memories. Maybe he’ll even openly tell you that he misses you.

This is one of the signs your ex is waiting for you to come back.

Whether you will or not is up to you, but if you do, make sure that things go differently this time.

18. He changes things about him that bothered you

Our loved one often tells us what we can improve about ourself and they point out our flaws.

If we heard them out and actually listened, maybe we would become the best version of ourself.

Unfortunately, we often take their advice once they’re no longer a part of our life.

It might be too late, but your ex finally started taking your advice seriously. He started working on himself and changing the things that bothered you.

Maybe he’s doing it because he wants you to give him another chance.

If he shows that he can really change, there could be hope for the two of you to finally be happy together.

19. He’s needy

If your ex starts acting needy, he might tell you that he doesn’t feel complete without you.

Maybe he’ll openly say that he needs you and if this happens, he clearly regrets letting you go.

I already told you that different guys express themselves differently.

Some will seem strong but cry inside, others will candidly tell you how they feel, and some will act needy.

The way you react to his neediness is up to you.

20. He asks you for another chance

Ultimately, a guy who truly feels guilty and still loves you could ask you for another chance.

Be careful, because he might only want another chance because of his guilty conscience, and not because of love.

At least you can know for sure that he is aware of his mistake and regrets it.

Are you going to give him another chance? There’s a lot to consider before deciding, even if you still love him.

Don’t rush into anything and make sure that things will be different if you give him another chance. You can’t let him hurt you again.

Don’t forget that there’s probably someone out there who wouldn’t let you go in the first place.

If he’s not the right man for you, don’t go back to him just because he wants you to and instead, wait for that someone.

Good luck!