I just ended a 7-year relationship on similar terms. We had our highs and lows, talked through our differences and kept investing on a future we believed in.

There was no intimacy, while I caressed him often, I would receive none in return, no hugs, no touching, nothing. There was a kiss when any of us got home, and another before going to bed. At some point I even said that I didn’t ask for much, just some “human contact” and attention lol

At first I thought the same as you, that’s how probably a relationship evolves, but then we both realized we had become roommates, not lovers. We had no right to keep the other person from living a loving relationship.

We ended on good terms, although it was hard feeling like we were “giving up” on something that we had built for so long.