@powerhouse3248 Dude you have literally nothing to worry about. I grew up getting the occasional cold sore too and never once in my life passed it on to someone else. I think I just caught it from my childhood best friend because kids are stupid and share drinks and food even when they have cold sores, but adults are smarter than that so once you are an adult with cold sores, the likelihood of you spreading it to others is basically zero. You would have to consciously pass it to someone, as in make-out with them while there is an erupting blister on your face (which I'm sure you guys won't be doing anyway). As long as she doesn't rub her cold sores on you while she has one, you're totally fine. I myself had two boyfriends (one for 3 years, the other 1 year) and would get the occasional cold sore, but I just wouldn't make-out with them when I had one. And trust me, kissing someone when you have a cold sore is pretty painful and unappealing. I remember not even wanting to kiss my boyfriend while I had them because it's just unpleasant, so I doubt your girlfriend will too. But with that said, I have definitely kissed my ex several times with slight cold sores, or sometimes even worse cold sores with my medication cream on it, and he still never got anything! And if you need stats to calm you down, 90% of Americans will contract oral herpes by the time they are 50 years old (and 80-90% of those infected, whether oral or genital, never show symptoms anyway and therefore never even know they have it), it's a virus that depends on humans to survive, so it's not going anywhere anytime soon. We're human, not angels, carrying viruses is just another nuisance we have to deal with if we want the privilege of living on this planet. Basically what I'm trying to say is, anyone around you could have herpes and you wouldn't even know it. You yourself can already have it, maybe from childhood, could be laying dormant in your body right now. But guess what? It's nothing to freak out about. You're human, your girlfriend is human, any other girl you date could have that dormant virus also because she will also be human. If you like this girl, keep her. It's hard to find people we truly connect with in life. So please don't judge another human being for being "slightly less" than what you believe you are. The majority of our planet has herpes anyway (67%). So technically, we are the majority, not you (haha). So let that sink in and remember that we are all human beings, your paranoia 100% stems from the traumatic childhood experience you observed that poor girl going through. Social stigma scares the crap out of people more than anything. So please realize what you are being blinded by right now is the social stigma. I'm sorry you had to grow up being terrified of cold sores, because I don't know what that's like. When I had them as a kid, no one made fun of me so I just embraced them I guess, never thought twice about it. It's all about past experiences. You have to let go of all these stupid preconceptions kids from your childhood put into your head, educate yourself on the reality of things now that you are an adult, and move on with life.