This happened recently, and it’s still messing with me a bit. I (18+) have a small, close group of friends. We usually get along really well and hang out often without drama. But this time was... different.

We all went out to eat together—just a casual night out. Everything was fine at first, but then two people in the group (let’s call them Vida and Reagan) started bickering. It was one of those petty arguments about opinions vs. facts—nothing important, just stupid stuff—but they both got super worked up about it. Voices started rising, and it got tense real quick.

After a few minutes of the back-and-forth, I jumped in and said something like, “Alright, knock it off. This is dumb, you’re ruining the night.” I wasn’t taking sides—I just didn’t want things to get worse or the whole evening to be uncomfortable for everyone else.

They cooled down (at least on the surface), and eventually we left the restaurant. While walking around, we found a swingset in a nearby park. I sat down on one of the swings to relax a bit, and Reagan—yes, one of the two who had been arguing—sat next to me on the other swing. We weren’t really talking about the earlier fight, just kind of chilling.

Then Vida comes over, stands right in between us, and starts calling us names. Out of nowhere, they straight-up punched me. Not a joke, not playful—it was a real punch, and I was completely caught off guard.

Now the group’s kind of split. A few people say Vida went way too far (which I agree with), but some are saying I escalated things earlier by stepping into the argument, and that I sided with Reagan just by sitting next to them.

So, AITAH for trying to shut down the argument and later hanging out with one of them? I honestly didn’t think I was doing anything wrong—I was just trying to keep the peace and enjoy the night.