A couple of days ago I made the decision to end the 8 month relationship with my partner. We are both in our late 30s/early 40s and he was the first relationship after my divorce last year. As the months went by I started to have doubts about long term compatibility and those feelings became too strong to ignore. From the outset I’d told him about my marriage and that I’d stayed despite not feeling happy and would not make the same mistake again as it’s unfair on both parties.
When I explained that he hadn’t done anything wrong, I just didn’t feel the relationship was right for me long term, he could not accept this as a valid reason. He was repeatedly saying things like “what have I done wrong?” “Why can’t you just love me” which was heartbreaking to hear. He told me he felt that me ending the relationship over lockdown and so close to Christmas was terrible of me as he lives on his own away from friends and family and the only thing keeping him going was seeing me (support bubble). He said that he would now spiral and spend the rest of lockdown very depressed and lonely, on his own and drinking excessive amounts to console himself. He told me that if I cared about him even slightly I would have carried on the relationship until the new year at least, for his sake.
Hearing this has made me feel incredibly guilty and worried for his welfare over the next few weeks. I thought carefully about what to do and concluded that there is never a right time and that it would be best to end things sooner rather than later. AIBU?