Gary and I were in each other’s third, fourth and fifth grade class. I knew him as a kid and again as an adult almost 15 years later. When he reached out I was happy to see he’d barely changed, still the sweet, funny guy I knew as a child. We started dating in August, with no expectations and no pressure, as it was my first real relationship and his first for a while. Here was someone who was so completely compatible with me, checked off all my little boxes, and I felt myself starting to fall in love. 6 months in, Gary decides to let me know that he isn’t emotionally ready for a relationship and feels he’s being unfair to me by “keeping me around”. I told him I couldn’t be just friends and haven’t heard from him since. It’s been a month and while it was my choice not to stay in touch, I think about him everyday and revolve everything around distracting myself from him. I miss him and worry I didn’t give him space to change and grow. Did I give up on us by not accepting who he is?