Forgive because until you have "the Talk" about what your status is it's not cheating. The guy I had been seeing for almost 2 years was a big game player. I asked him on several occasion to define us. To put a label on what our relationship is or what he wants it to become. And he never did, so for '09 I had to let him go.
Anyway the point is you need to have a clear and honest talk about your relationship and define what you are and what you hope to become.

you don't even sound like you are dating, just met. Are you dating? I guess since you haven't had that talk, which is very early in the game for you, you are ok. I wonder why you are so quick to have to define your friendship.

=/ You met a guy and you felt a connection but weren't sure if he felt the same way. So, technically, it's nowhere close to official. There isn't nothing to forgive.

I agree with the above posts but I'd like to add one other thing: you two just met, hadn't even had The Talk yet, and he tells his "whole family" about "his girl"? Ummm...isn't that a little presumptious? What if you hadn't felt the same way? Is making assumtpions just part of his personaltiy (Yikes!)? I'd keep an eye on that and if, in the future, he continues to make assumptions like that, you might want to have a talk with him, nicely, and explain that it'd probably be better if he consulted you rather than make assumptions. Cause' that could get awkward. ("Hey, Mom! I'd like to introduce you to my fiance!!")

Here's my take, and I don't really care what anyone thinks about it: If you feel like you cheated, if you even semi-cheated, you cheated. Even if you're not "exclusive" you still cheated. Maybe you didn't "cheat on him" but you cheated him. And really in my opinion, if you're going to plan on being exclusive with him, you owe him that much. You owe him to decide if he wants to take things further with you or not. Honesty is extremely important. As someone that went through complete hell for every possibly holiday during the past Fall and Winter season thus far, as much as having your heart broken hurts so badly, it's much much worse when you've been lied to. When someone pretends that everything is okay but they're keeping such secrets from you. My honesty moto is, if at all concerns me, especially in a big way, I have every single possible right to know the complete truth. And in this case it very much concerns him, and if need be I'll make another novel post if someone needs me to clarify why I think it does. Lies and secrets never solve anything. Obviously it's up to you to tell, but don't drag it out, don't do the whole "I'll tell him but maybe next month, or some time later" dance. The truth is more effective and meaningful when dealt with immediately than when dragged on.

I think that, as long as you forgive yourself and don't let the guilt get to you, you're in a good position. As you said, you never had the talk, so there were no real expectations. I think his text message is the perfect way to bring up your status and clear things up. If you want this to be your real beginning, consider everything before the talk just dating and assume he's done the same. If you want to come clean for your peace of mind, do so, but make sure you know what his reaction will be and that you'll be ok taking that risk. Good luck and enjoy your new man

If you havent discussed monogomy or had anything close to "the Talk" then it should be assumed that both of you are seeing other people. I used to date 3 or 4 guys at a time and until one of us had "the talk" i wouldnt stop seeing the other guys.

You're forgiven, you did nothing wrong. Just because he's getting all sentimental around his family doesnt mean you have to feel guilty for him not making his feelings clear.

there's nothing to forgive. you did nothing wrong. what if he hadn't sent you that text? were you going to wait for him forever? I did that once... never again.

Nothing to forgive. Basically I guess: forgive.

If I were seeing your dude I'd be thinking he's not that into me. A week of disappearance during Holiday season and a...text in NY day. He didn't even call. HMmmm. I suppose you're just starting to date each other I guess. What's he doing telling his family about you..'his girl,' and yet he didn't even give any indication that you two are exclusive in the first place? What an unusual fellow.

Plus if you haven't had the talk, you're more than welcome to date other fellows. I did that when I was single too, date more than 1 dude especially if it's not clear I were exclusive with one of them or not (although I didn't necessarily jump into bed with them)...

i would definitely say FORGIVE - since you guys weren't even in a 'relationship' yet, and you really didn't talk about what the boundaries were, there is nothing wrong with what you did. i feel like unless you're in a committed relationship, then it's not even semi cheating, it's hanging out with someone. how were you to know how he felt since he never communicated that to you. don't feel bad at all - just move on from where you are now since it seems like he's really into you.

i think the "boyfriend" was seeing how he'd do away from you, and you have no wqay of knowing what he really did while he was back there. seriously, how hard is it to text someone to say "merry christmas"? 1 text does not a relationship make, and w/o a relationship you can't cheat.

I agree with everybody saying you didn't do anything wrong. It's probably best not to tell him about your New Years Eve hookup, it's not really any of his business and it would just complicate things so early on in the relationship. On the other hand, you might want to ask yourself why you would sleep with somebody else when there's a guy you're seriously interested in.

Forgive, if your not even sure where the relationship even is, then obviously its nothing big yet! Do what you gotta do...

I agree that you didn't technically do anything wrong, but if you feel bad about it then your gut is telling you that you did something wrong. Does that make sense? And I feel if you really really liked this guy, you probably wouldn't have had a fling with someone else before you guys were official, just because that would put your potential relationship on rocky ground. I think you should tell him once you set the ground rules for the relationship, because though it's totally oversaid, relationships ARE built on trust and it's better to start off on the right foot than with a lie/omission of the fact.

Whoah. I'm agreeing with a LOT of people when I say this:

You didn't do anything wrong, seeing as how you hadn't made a commitment. However, telling lies to/keeping secrets from the person you're in a relationship with is a bad idea. It's messy, it makes you feel guilty, and the other person usually knows something's going on, they just don't know what.

I think what you did was okay, but it's NOT okay to try to get into a relationship without telling this guy what happened and why it happened (he hadn't communicated with you, you didn't know if you were an "item", etc.)

And someone else said this, but I'm not sure who. Secrets don't get better the longer you wait, they get worse. If you're gonna tell him, make it soon, please.

Nothing to forgive. You're not in a relationship with this guy yet so you're a free agent and can do whatever you want.

Too many women take themselves off the market long before they're in a relationship, and the fact that you are even asking this question falls into that female trait we seem to have. Until you're absolutely boyfriend and girlfriend, you do what you want and never ever share the details, explain yourself or feel guilty. Who even knows what he's been up to, and he won't feel any need to tell you.

If you feel guilty or is asking about this, I think the right thing to do is probably to tell him. Not telling him is not a right way to start off the relationship, especially if you really value the relationship. Although it will be messy, it is the right thing to do. Just because "the talk" hasn't happened, if it's a mutual understanding (it seems like there might have been if he has told his family about you) then it makes your actions less forgivable because not having "the talk" is just a cop-out and a bad excuse for your bad judgment on what happened on new year's eve. Even it's hard and may cause a lot of troubles, I would say do the right thing and tell him and I would say forgive, but as of now, not forgive.

i voted forgive. as long as it was a fling and you're ready to be with the new guy exclusively. just move on-- and NEVER tell him about it. he doesn't need to feel and pain for something you did with no ill intentions.

totally forgive. You hadn't discussed being exclusive, so you didn't do anything wrong.

I know how you must feel though, I would also feel somewhat guilty!

You shouldn't feel guilty although I understand why you do and I don't see that there's anything to forgive.There was no discussion between the two of you about not dating others before he left so as far as I can see until you guys come to the agreement that your relationship is exclusive then it's all good.

i think you've done nothing wrong, so there's no need for forgiveness... but keep in mind that if you are already lying and covering your tracks this early into your relationship, he's probably doing the same thing...

I'm in the "you didn't do anything wrong" boat. Your situation is not uncommon, and you can use this as an opportunity to have The Talk with this guy you're dating if you wish to. Don't beat yourself up over something you don't really have to feel guilty over.

But I will say this -- if you slept with the New Years guy, get tested before you start a sexual relationship with the other guy (which, honestly you should do regardless). Because if you passed an STI onto the guy, that would flip the situation into Not Forgive territoty...

forgive...the whole week you didn't hear from him? you shouldn't feel guilty because first you didn't have the talk and second it seems like you guys just started to date. there is nothing to forgive cuz basically you didn't do anything. He disappeared and you didn't even know what he is doing. Don't tell him, what he doesn't know wont hurt him. Plus now you can start over. and have the talk lol. =) good luck

I voted forgive - as long as you tell him. I think that things were unclear but now you know how he feels and clearly it's not casual. If you intend to build a relationship with this man then tell him what happened and explain why. I don't think he had the right to expect exclusivity but he does have the right to be told the truth if you want things to be serious as well.

What's to forgive? You aren't in a committed relationship. You don't have to tell him anything, unless you want to.

I said forgive, but there's nothing to forgive, you didn't do anything wrong.
If y'all hadn't had "the talk", then you aren't official, and it's none of his business what you were doing when he wasn't around. He can't just assume you feel the same way he does without talking to you about it. The only reason it would be his business is if something will affect him, like STI's. So get yourself checked before you do anything with him. Even if it affects him by hurting his feelings b/c he was more serious than you were at that point, you didn't do anything wrong. You can't be responsible for what he wants and his feelings. That's his job. So if he didn't ask you to be official, he can't expect you to act like you are at that point. That would just be crazy.

And I agree with what MyOwnRules said about him making assumptions. I would watch that too.

I totally agree with everything Marci said. We girls need to quit worrying and caring about other people so much sometimes, and worry more about ourselves. You have NO idea what he did while he was home. And you shouldn't feel bad for living your own life and doing what you want to do. He didn't talk to you for a week and then sent one text!!! What are you just supposed to wait around forever, for whenever he decides he wants something to happen? I don't think so.

And I don't think there is such a thing as a mutual understanding like some people are saying. You should NEVER assume someone thinks the same thing you do. You can't know that for sure. They could be thinking something totally opposite and it doesn't matter later if you just thought that you were both on the same page, b/c you never actually discussed it. So it only counts if you both talk about it and know for sure what you each want.

forgive! you are not in a committed relationship at this point... in fact, you aren't even sure if you're "in" a relationship. and, like you said, who knows what he was doing when he went home?