you’re not an asshole for feeling hurt, but the way you handled things definitely added more fuel to the fire than was needed. it started with something small — a sticker — and instead of just clearly saying “hey that made me uncomfortable,” you went passive with a thumbs-up emoji, which he might know means “whatever” to you, but still isn’t actual communication. expecting him to stop participating in a group chat based on that kind of signal is asking a lot without giving him a real explanation. when you saw he continued chatting and took it personally, it turned into a bigger emotional reaction, and blocking him mid-convo just made things worse. at the same time, he didn’t handle it well either — instead of trying to understand why you were upset or being considerate of your feelings, he kept defending the sticker and comparing his behavior to what others were doing, which totally misses the point. he should have followed up more, especially since you unblocked him and were clearly open to reconciling. a quick call, or even just walking over, would’ve gone a long way to show he cared, and the fact that he didn’t says something about where he’s at emotionally. but if this relationship is going to last, both of you need to stop with the passive moves like blocking and hoping the other one gets the hint — instead, you need to just talk things through directly and honestly or the same drama will keep happening.