When I broke up with my ex of 5 yrs it was because we both needed to actually work on ourselves. I still love him and want what’s best for him in all ways but while working on myself I came to know our time had passed and we’ve stayed split but text almost every day. Sometimes relationships shift and change but not always.
Just as a friend now, in another world we would’ve been endgame tho. I still compare guys to him cause of how well he treated me. There was a few months of extremely low contact before it wasn’t so painful. He and I have always communicated excruciatingly clearly and it’s been 3 years and we still talk so if he’s hurting in anyway he has hidden it very well.