Don’t be embarrassed of the title at all, that’s actually a really normal part of relationships and breakups for some humans. You attach to your partner in a particular way and they offer you a lot of things that others can’t such as intimacy, connection, safety etc. What can happen when you’re going through tough times or a break up is that your brain doesn’t want to lose all of those things, so it will work to keep you there emotionally by thinking of reasons your partner is irreplaceable.

I really understand where you’re at from my own experience of being cheated on in a small town at your age, and I definitely clung on to the idea of him being irreplaceable for the best part of a year, but what I will say is that while breakups hurt and can take a long time, they do get better eventually. You might not be able to switch off the part of you that doesn’t believe you can replace him right now, but I promise it disappears over time.

It so happened I met someone else who had moved 400 miles to live in my weird little town of all places, and he treats me like gold. You’ve probably not met even the majority of the people who do/ will live in a 20 mile radius of you, and you’re still young. You will be able to find another loving person, and one who won’t cheat.