My ex-boyfriend and I were together for eight months and broke up in early February. The relationship was great, and we shared a great love for each other. He broke up with me rather suddenly, which caused a rocky breakup with us going in and out of contact. But from March to May, we had very little communication with each other. In May, he reached out asking if I wanted to start to hang out again and see where it goes. He said he was thinking a lot about me and wanted to know if I would be interested in being in each other's lives again. I agreed because I was very much still in love with him at the time. We continued to hang out frequently, in which we were intimate a few times and shared physical affection every time we saw each other. The issue is that we were acting like boyfriend and girlfriend without the label. Although this was the case, I started to accept we weren't going to be together again, and my mind became okay with the fact we weren't together. Mind you, it's now August, so multiple months have passed. I started talking to other people and being open to the idea that we are just not meant to be together. Although, I still do have so much love for him and care deeply about him being a part of my life. I did mention to him a few times that I was open to seeing other people. Now the tricky part is recently, we were hanging out, and he saw that another guy had texted me. He asked who it was and if I would tell him about the guy. I told him I owed him no loyalty because I had waited on him for months, but he never pursued another relationship. He seemed pretty upset that I was opening up to the idea of another person. This led to a meaningful conversation when he shared that he wasn't ready for a relationship and felt lost in his school and future career plans. He's a great guy, and I believe that he would never act in a way with malicious intent, so I believe that he is being honest when he says he is genuinely not ready. We agreed that it would be best not to stay in contact because we needed to heal. Except, he has kept contacting me the past few days. He tells me that he feels like he's letting the love of his life walk away, which hurts my heart to hear cause I waited for so long for him to come around. Do I walk away, or do I remain in his life?
