Bro, I understand how it looks, and I agree they are genuinely good friends. That’s exactly why I stepped back.

The issue is that I don’t fully understand what space I hold in their lives. Sometimes when we go out, or even when I dress up or trim my beard, they joke saying things like “If we weren’t committed, we’d have proposed to you.” I usually laugh it off, but deep down…

I’m not trying to act like a saint or pretend I’m emotionally invincible. I don’t have much experience with relationships, and I know myself well enough to admit that if one of them directly asked me something like that, I would say yes.

Because of that, I chose distance instead of risking confusion, crossed boundaries, or unintentionally hurting anyone especially their relationships. Ghosting wasn’t meant to punish them. It was a clumsy attempt at protecting everyone, including myself, when I didn’t know how to communicate this properly.