Amber Portwood and Gary Wayt were determined to make their relationship work long before their breakup after his disappearance this month!

During the new episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter on Thursday, the reality star opened up about her relationship with her man to friend Lexi. And everything seemed to be going great between them at the time — emphasis on seemed! She shared:

“Me and Gary are doing really good. We’ve been staying with each other a lot more, spending more time together. We’re just going with the flow. We’re not moving fast. We’re not moving slow. We’re moving at a good place, whatever we’re feeling.”

But it hadn’t been all rainbows and sunshine. Amber admitted the then-couple did experience some challenges in their romance due to her mental health struggles. As fans know, the MTV personality was diagnosed with bipolar and borderline personality disorder in 2011. She has been very open about her manic episodes over the years, especially about her blackout moments that leave her unable to remember conversations or situations.

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So, on the show, she told her pal that Gary witnessed her having a manic episode for the first time. Afterward, the pair sought out counseling to work through it together. Amber said:

“The other day, he experienced my first manic episode — almost a blackout. So, we start going to couples therapy. We’ve been there twice now. It feels good to do that for the first time because you know I’m not good at relationships, especially this type of relationship where it’s actually a good one. This is something like I don’t want to mess up.”

Fans even watched one of their sessions later on. Gary made it clear he wanted more advice on how to support and help his girlfriend during her manic episodes. And it sounded like he was doing a good job in that department! Her beau told the therapist that he knows the signs for when Amber’s experiencing a manic episode. When Gary would realize what was going on, he said, he often tried to get her out of that state by placing his hand on her face or playing music. All of this is something the 16 and Pregnant alum never had with her previous boyfriends! Gary continued:

“I think I go into the protector mode. This is something that she’s used to dealing with by herself, and I can’t imagine dealing with something like that by yourself.”

Amber called Gary her “grounding force.” But although the momma loved how supportive her guy was, she was also afraid she’d become a burden to him in the long run. Oof.

Still, their therapist pointed out how taking care of themselves means they can be better partners in relationships. Easing her fears, Gary said he’s “all in”:

“Finding somebody that I actually truly love, that’s what I’ve wanted and we’re both all in.”

After kissing each other, Amber and Gary exchanged “I love yous.” They really did seem to be so committed to each other and in love. But as we all know now, a lot has changed since then!

Gary was reported missing by Amber earlier this month after he drove away from their rental cabin in North Carolina following an argument. Days after his disappearance, police found him and closed the case. Understandably, they were unable to move past this bump in their relationship.

A source told Us Weekly they called off their engagement because “they have too much to overcome to move forward together.” Um, yeah. And we know now they experienced challenges in their relationship even before his disappearance! Not only that, apparently his family didn’t approve of their engagement, either. The insider added:

“Gary’s family was looking her up online and looking at her past and not everything they saw online was true. And it was hard for Amber because she’s been trying so hard to move past it and move forward.”

Oof. Our heart breaks for Amber. It looks like she really wanted this relationship to last. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments.

[Image via Teen Mom/Instagram]

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