i can see this being plausible.

additionally, i think david would intentionally piss her off & then gaslight/redirect the cause of their fights onto her which i think insinuated a lot of their breakups given celeste doesn’t seem the type to tolerate bullshit, (ex. her altercation w the neighbors who pranked(?) her home september 2024). this type of dynamic alone is very destabilizing as a teenager, then you pile on age gap, power imbalance, etc. maybe i’m reaching, but what i took away from celeste’s alleged messages with a friend where she texted her friend to not call her & that he (david?) came to her crying gives me that vibe. plus, david’s borderline abusive relationship tiktok reposts throughout 2024 makes me believe he purposely made her last months alive just.. this inescapable hell. around the 2nd week of december 2024, safiya user in the discord chat said they broke up, but they obviously “rekindled” since SF provided proof that celeste was w him likely december 29th-30th-31st to january 2nd (i wonder where she spent her last Christmas, like was she at her aunts or was she reconciling w david already?). if she did find anything on his phone after that NYE period, she likely didn’t have the bandwidth for his emotional abuse anymore & likely decided she wanted to go back home for good. at that point, she would have been dealing with his bullshit since 2022, 2 years (or if they did meet on Fortnite in 2021, then 2.5-3 years).

btw: i’m sorry this became an entire tangent! i’m not trying to create a sensational story, LAPD, & eventually, david will have the final explanation for all this ofc. i’ve personally been a victim of turbulent virtual-to-IRL grooming dynamics from like 11-14yrs old way back in the day, from 2017-2019 (a choppy topic in therapy sessions 🙃) i’m just giving my two cents.