If they think it is an excuse you are no worse off than before. You are not responsible for their reaction as long as you were level with them.
Yeah, but then they'll come on FreeRepublic and whine about how evil and cruel American women are!
Sigh. I thought I had things all figured out when I was fifteen, but then it got really complicated and I haven't met a nice guy, in real life, who wasn't already married/dating/otherwise ineligible since. Which hasn't been that long, I admit, but it's not like college was an alternative to early marriage, for me.