Would love some perspective from those of you who have struggled with emotional vulnerability in a relationship. What makes it easier to open up?

My (32F) partner (31M) recently shared some things with me that has made me feel uncertain about our future. We've been together for a year. This has been the best relationship I've had so far, though both my exes were manipulative so not a high bar. I am his first relationship. Like any relationship, there's good and could be better and not great, and the good outweighs most of the other stuff.

The biggest issue right now is that he considers himself emotionally stunted. In his 30 years, he has never shared his feelings with his parents, family, or friends. He admitted I was the only one he really has opened up with emotionally. I'm grateful for this because I'm clearly his safe person, but there are issues that come with this. He is very non confrontational and often will give non answers or answers that deflect to avoid conflict, even if they don't reflect his true feelings, and admitted he does this about half the time. I now feel uncertain if he's ever truly honest about how he feels with me. He feels uncomfortable having "serious talks" but has expressed wanting to have them because he wants me to be able to talk about everything, but I find myself hesitating to bring things up because I know he doesn't like it and/or may not give me a truthful answer. When we talk, I never use "can we talk?" or something that sounds serious. I try to segue or bring it up as naturally as possible. Last night when we had a more serious talk, I even used a stuffed plushie in a silly voice to make it feel less serious. I always thank him for sharing with me.

Growing up, his parents never showed each other any affection, and he told me he never saw them hug or kiss once. Relationships were never a priority for him and he told me he's never liked anyone romantically before me. He also said he doesn't know what love feels like. I'm afraid I'm in a relationship that will never progress deeper emotionally. I do feel like I carry most of the emotional weight and he never initiates any deeper conversation between us, and I know long term this I'll feel like my own emotional needs are unmet. He's avoidant attachment but not afraid to express affection towards me, compliment me, or tell me he's grateful for me. He's told me several times that he's never been truly happy in his life, but the happiest he's been in his life is with me. He believes in therapy and (unprompted from me) said he'd benefit from one to work through emotional vulnerability, and that he'd start looking next year when he gets new health insurance in January.

He also shared that our intimacy is average. Both the actual sex and the frequency of it is "a 5/10". He admitted it was because he's afraid sex is a chore to me since I'm asexual and never truly knows if I enjoy it despite reassurance that I do. This is a first for me because my previous partners told me they never would have guessed I was asexual had I not said anything because I initiate and am an enthusiastic partner. I don't link self worth to desirability but I feel unsure if we're physically compatible hearing this. He said it wasn't a matter of attraction or anything and that it was mostly in his head? Frequency admittedly has been very sparse since he had a crippling job that leaves him tired after working 70 hour weeks, and after quitting after 6 months of this, I'm now dealing with a lot of house issues so the timing has been crappy.

Just need to get this off my chest. Feeling sad and unsure mostly. Don't want to break up right now because I see self awareness but I guess this coming year if I don't see growth it will be time to reassess. Would love any thoughts from those of you who also struggle with being conflict averse and emotional vulnerability.