Signs They're Pocketing You (And Aren't Serious About The Relationship)
Ali Karimiboroujeni

Signs They’re Pocketing You (And Aren’t Serious About The Relationship)

Pocketing is what happens when you’ve been seeing someone for a while, but your relationship looks nonexistent to the public eye. This usually happens because the other person isn’t entirely sure how they feel about you yet. They don’t want to tell the world about your relationship until they’re one-hundred percent sure that you’re going to stick around. (Or, in a worst case scenario, they’re seeing multiple people and don’t want you to find out about each other) Here are some signs that they’re pocketing you because they’re still on the fence about your relationship:

They haven’t introduced you to any of their family members, coworkers, or friends.

They don’t invite you out with their friends on weekends. They don’t bring you to holiday parties at work or invite you to dinner with their parents. They have kept you separate from everyone else in their life who matters. Even though you’ve heard stories about them, you aren’t sure whether they’ve heard stories about you. You aren’t sure whether anyone even knows that you exist.

Your dates are always in the privacy of their apartment.

They might set up a romantic dinner for you, but it won’t be out in public where anyone could spot you. They’re keeping you hidden inside of their place because they don’t want anyone to catch you together and realize that they’re in a relationship. They avoid PDA at all costs because they aren’t ready to put an official label on your relationship.

They haven’t posted about you on social media.

It doesn’t matter how many cute pictures you snap together because they never upload the shots to their social media. They never reference you or tag you in any posts. Plus, they only talk to you privately, through texts and DMs that no one else is able to read. Anyone who checks out their social media wouldn’t have any clue that they’re in a relationship. You’re nowhere to be seen. There’s no hint that they’re in a relationship.

They treat you completely different when other people are around.

If you happen to go to a party together or end up at an event together, they won’t be as affectionate as normal. They won’t treat you the same way they do when you’re in private and no one else is watching. They treat you more like a friend when other people are around. They’re making it seem like your relationship is platonic. No one who sees you together would realize how much you (supposedly) mean to each other.

They don’t add you on social media.

This person might not even request you as a friend on social media. Although they’ll watch all your stories and tell you how great you look in private, they might not even want your name attached to their social media. They don’t want anyone to look into who you are and what your relationship is to them. Or they don’t want you seeing what they’re posting because they’re still acting like they’re single.