Asked by Man, 31
She left a five-year thing two months ago. We have chemistry. I do not want to be the rebound and I do not want to be a coward.
Rebound is a real pattern, not a moral failing. Two months after five years is still weather, not climate. You can date if you keep your expectations boring: no saving, no future-talk, no being the proof she is over it. If she needs you to erase him, you will lose to a ghost.
Some of us know we are free. Some of us are using a new person as anesthesia. Ask what ended and whether they are still in weekly contact. Chemistry does not answer that. You are not a coward for going slow. You are a coward only if you pretend the timeline is not in the room.
Keep seeing each other without becoming the only hobby. Revisit in six weeks. If the ex still runs the plot, step back.
After both answers