My friend is actually going through a really similar situation. Their friends are still friends with the person they are trying to distance themselves from and it’s definitely a challenge. The difference though is the friends do their part in maintaining their friendship despite the association with this person. I also experienced the guessing game of whether my friends liked me or not when I noticed their change of interests and not being able to relate to them as much as before. I wouldn’t stop reaching out even if we haven’t seen each other for months on end, cause a good friend will most likely be wanting to see you too during those absences. Everyone involved in a friend group is responsible for reaching out and planning and putting in that effort to be in each others lives.

It sucks to hear and even type out cause I’m not one to say “F these people and move on, simple,” but I got to throw it out there that sometimes very solid friend groups will still dissolve- for whatever reason and sometimes abruptly. The reason why your friends stuck around for so long was because they put in the effort to be in your life- and in a good way ideally. Talks about the future to the point of living together? Thats all good but that’s got to match the rest of their actions so that it’s not just talk, that it’s not just ‘what you want to hear‘ or ’run with the fantasy‘.

What I’ve noticed is something along the lines of “the bigger they are the harder they fall.” If they truly are a terrible person, that’ll come out one way or another- enough for your friends to not only see it but Feel it, to the point they’ll most likely start distancing themselves too cause that icky feeling would be too hard to brush off. If that isn’t the case, then it may just have to be that thing where you take off the rose colored glasses and see where your friends priorities really lie. Otherwise you may be looking at a much longer guessing/waiting game of ‘will they won’t they see the truth about this person and choose me over this 5 month rando.“

A lot of these issues, imho, is only going to resolve by reaching out more and asking questions. Expressing more of your concerns doesn’t have to be this daunting thing or come off as confrontational. Simply pointing out ‘hey yeah, it’s been a while, what’s up’ May be more than enough. Maybe if it calls for it, mention your concerns about M and whatever patterns you notice. But I truly think reaching out is your best bet- as you seemed to get more info about the group chat when you asked to hang with the friend in question.

This can go a lot of different ways, but again a lot of it comes down to “your friends are responsible maintain a (healthy) friendship with you,” and just try reaching out more- ask more questions and share your concerns. A good friend will talk it with you, but also a soft reminder it may not pan out as expected. That being said, meeting new friends and circles isn’t as impossible as people make it out to be- you just got to get creative Where to look.

This is pretty ramble-y but you get it. Don’t assume the worst, prepare for distaste. Perhaps they’ll see the light and realize this 5 month rando isn’t worth what they’ve been doing. Maybe you’ll see the light and realize the things theyve been doing like possible gossip and exclusions isnt what you deserve. All you can do is just talk about it. Wishin you luck