Hello again!
Still not a pregnancy scare, I'm just trying to learn more so I can take more precautionary measures in the future. I apologise if my quest for knowledge is repetitive to answer, it was just very reassuring to have a specific answer last time and I have been getting mixed answers from different places.
A few days ago, I gave my partner a hand job, and while he didn't ejaculate, I did get pre-ejaculate on my hands. And even then it wasn't much, because it didn't last long since we were not in the mood. He touched himself to put his penis back in his pants, and we both washed and dried our hands using the same tap and the same towel. About half an hour later, I consented to him giving me manual sex, and he washed his hands again, only he touched the wet spot of the same towel we wiped our hands on. He quickly changed towels and dried his hands, and they were completely dry before he touched me. There was no penetration, he only touched the entrance of my vagina and my clitoris. I doubt it does, but does this still pose risk of any infection or pregnancy? You mentioned certain fluids, and that most likely means ejaculatory fluids, but I'd really like to know more about that. We are both each others' first sexual partners, and spoke to our parents, who mentioned they had no history of STI, except for my mother who has oral herpes, which is in itself not an STI, and I have not given my partner oral as of yet even though I have shown no signs of the virus myself.
I also read the article you sent, and it reassured me a lot and was way more educational than what I considered to be the decent sexual education I received from school, so thank you for that.
The events of the first paragraph occurred on day one of my menstrual cycle, and this month's period has provided new symptoms that I never got before my first sexual encounters with my partner (occasional sharp pains, occasional back pain) and after ovulation I also had occasional mild cramps. The only real sexual encounters we've had have been the one mentioned previously and a few instances of manual sex during my previous cycle. We were completely safe and we maintained basic hygiene, though I did get anxious about pregnancy despite the fact that there was no real risk (which some of the pages on Scarleteen helped me through, so thank you for that!) to the point where I was crying most days and constantly very anxious. Does severe stress and anxiety affect our menstrual cycles and periods? I doubt this would have anything to do with an STI (due to the paragraph above), my main suspicions have been something to do with my hormones being wacky from severe stress or something to do with another unrelated health issue with a suspected chronic condition, which is strange to me since I had never had symptoms of it until after my first sexual encounters if that were the case. I digress, this isn't the place to ask advice for that side of things
I sincerely thank you for your help, both directly and indirectly. This site is honestly a great resource and I would probably be way more freaked out than I am without it. I wish you all the best and a lovely day!