My ex told me he still has feelings for me

[Summer123]

Ok so my senior year of H.S. I dated this guy for about 7 months. We'll call him 'Jon'. I knew him longer than that but he was merely a friend and I wasn't too into him at first. Well he won me over and we started dating. He was my first and we broke it off because I went away to college and he stayed in the city..he was a year older. He came to my college to visit me a few times and we kept 'hooking up' but then i put a stop to it for good a couple months into it because i just wasn't happy with the way things were. Soon after that my current bf 'Zac' who was in college with me began trying to pursue me. Again, at first i kept turning him down because i was still kinda heartbroken about Jon but then we began getting closer and me and him became an item. Well fast forward 4 1/2 years. Me and Zac still go out but lately we have been having some problems. Now me and Jon have kept in touch. Recently though we have hung out a couple times..mostly me and him, and his friends as well. It's always been on a friendly basis and i made sure never to flirt with him. I don't have feelings for him what so ever. He is a great friend and i thought we were in a good stage of being friends.
However yesterday he dropped the bomb and told me he never stopped having feelings for me. He said he basically still loves me and it's hurting him to see me and not be able to be with me. I was, i can't say completely shocked but like taken aback a bit because i did not know he still loved me like that. I thought he was fine with being my friend. Although i noticed a change in his behavior towards me recently..like being more of a gentleman, dressing up around me and insisting on paying for me when we were out. But he was always a nice guy so i didnt put that much thought into those things. So since me and him have gotten closer he has been the one that i go to, and talk about the problems i have with my bf. I trust him and he basically has been a good friend, been really supportive, etc.
Well me and my bf almost broke up recently..or still may, i don't know for sure. We are 'trying' to work things out. But i guess upon hearing this my ex decided to take a chance. He asked me what i think about dating him again(if me and my bf break up) and told me his feelings for me. I said I wouldn't be ready to date just yet..I am a wreck..and I'm not in a good stage in life, which is all true. He basically gave me an ultimatum. He said 'well if you don't date me, I can't talk to you anymore' I mean, I'm confused because all this time I thought we were good with being just friends and now he has come out of left field with this and me and my bf haven't even broken up. And if we did the truth is i would not date anyone right away. I would need time to myself and to be single. But this was not okay for my ex. He said he needed to do this for him because talking to me, and being his 'friend' is driving him crazy and it depresses him that im not with him. I agreed that i wouldn't call him or hang out with him anymore but im upset. I agreed because if that's what he needs then what can i do. But i can't help but feel bad and sad that i made him feel this way, and that i lost a friend. I told him to call me when he is ready. Did I do the right thing? Could i have done something else to make him feel better? I have no feelings for him at all in that way..at least not now i do not and i got over him a looong time ago. I can't go back to that point in life even though he is a sweetheart...well most times anyway.

[FullofSighs]

Sounds like both of you need to just move on and grow apart from each other. He was keeping those feelings for you intact cuz he kept in contact with you, and keeping in contact gave him hope you two could be together again. So not keeping in contact with him, will suit him better so he can move on and be with someone else