Finally heard from him! But what do I do now??

[caitie4998]

So I basically have two questions I'm going to compile into one. For starters, my ex and I are both 17 and we broke up at the very beginning of July because we were long distance (we saw eachother a few times because it's not that far). Anyways, after telling me he loved me, he broke up with me because he said being away from me was starting to be too hard, and that he was too busy (our schedules conflicted quite a bit) to treat me in a way he believed to be acceptable. Also, I was in a bad spot with depression so I was a bit impatient with him. It was really hard on me. Whether or not it was hard on him, I'm not sure. He had reached out post-breakup and asked if we could stay friends because he would be glad to do so. We texted twice at the end of July (he even texted me first!) but hadn't spoken since then and after a summer of improving my depression I realized that I was way too impatient with him so I sent him an apology. We never fought or anything, even during the breakup. He didn't reply for a few days. But I got a reply yesterday.

So, question 1) How would you interpret what he said? I'm really not sure what to make of it, I don't know if I should be happy about it or what. And why did he take a while to reply? I thought that was kind of odd.

He said: "I don't need an apology Caitlin, you have nothing to apologize for. What we had was great while it lasted and all good things come to an end, but our time together was awesome. I'm sorry the way that things turned out (? I was confused by what he meant by "the way things turned out") and sorry that I didn't let you down easier (? He didn't really let me down hard) and for any pain that I could have caused you."

And question 2) Should I reply, and if so, what do I say. I kind of don't want to reply because I hate to double text so if I replied and didn't answer I would feel strange texting him in the future and asking how he was or something, but then again I want him to know I appreciate that. I was thinking something along the lines of:

"Yeah I agree and it's fine, don't worry about it. And just so you know no matter whether or not you meant the lets stay friends thing if you ever need anything I'll be here for you, except like in a friend way haha".

Or

"
"Yeah I agree and that means a lot thank you. And just so you know no matter whether or not you meant the lets stay friends thing if you ever need anything I'll be here for you, except like in a friend way haha".

He was my first love and I'll always cherish him as a person, he's great and he's always understood me so I really hope that we can eventually be friends again. Whether or not that's possible is his decision, as I'm all for it.

What do you think I should do?

[basilandthyme]

I think you should ignore it. Staying friends with exes always gets too complicated, especially when one of you gets a new partner.