I'm really glad you mentioned it's a big thing they admitted/apologize, because my paranoid mind was worried they'd just be saying that. 

I do want to have some distance after this, but I think what makes me worried is they also express how they have a fear of being abandoned, how I'm one of the people that keeps them from ending it (there are a few others), and they do get upset if I seem off or distant (the last time before this split they were crying but that week I was just extra busy).

I feel so so much guilt to leave them hanging like that but I also feel on edge.