You know, there ARE more ppl who are like your bf. Believe me. I was a covert stutterer for years. But step by step I started to stutter more openly. I still have things I won't do bc of my stutter. Bc it will mess up my entire evening, and I don't want that. So it does hold me back sometimes. But for example, I started a new job a few months ago. First I fall back in my old habbit to hide my stutter. But more en more I stutter openly at my new work. And I haven't get any weird reactions yet. Okay, ppl say 'it's okay.' Ppl do finish words. But they aren't mocking or saying weird stuff about it... not yet.