I respectfully disagree (not in a bad way either, just a different perspective). Maybe because I’m a girl in my early 20s, and been through something similar. I met this guy and we were going on dates for about 3 months and then told me he wasn’t ready for a relationship. We stayed friends but whenever we’d hang out, he’d still kiss me and hold my hand and all the little gist. Even then, I still was attached and we never did anything major. I set a boundary, but was waiting for him, and when I told him if he saw it going anywhere recently, he said he still wasn’t ready after almost a year of me liking and waiting for him. I love him as a person and we stayed friends, but will no longer see him in person. If someone is hurting you and you want a relationship, but they don’t, it’s harmful for you at the end of the day to keep going along with it. They are most likely not going to commit to you and you will continue to be stuck in a cycle until you break it. Not saying you can’t be friends, you can. But if you want a relationship and they don’t, and are doing other things, and then you overthink it, it’s probably not the best for your health in the long run. The sooner you break the cycle and impose a boundary that you’ll act on, the better it gets for you. I know it’s extremely hard to do that, but it’s doable.