This is a really tough situation , and I ' m going to talk to you as a person quite a lot like Aaron with my ex . The best thing you can do is calmly , kindly be honest with him . It ' s going to be really hard . He is going to be upset . But the worst feeling is false hope . My ex would keep saying to me when I was upset that he still loved me , and wanted to make it work , but wasn ' t sure it was possible and that was too much hope for me , even when he started seeing his current gf . You can ' t be responsible for Aaron or his life . Put it kindly but clearly that you are moving forward with your life and you want him to be safe , but things are definitely over . Don ' t contact him , it will be mixed signals for him and will muddy things for you . If , god forbid , anything bad does happen ? That ' s his issues , not yours . You have been kind and considerate and tried your best . Good luck .