To be or not to be

I’ve recently come out of an eight-year relationship. We were engaged and supposed to be getting married this year, but we called the wedding off and went our separate ways. In the middle of all that, I’ve realized I’ve fallen for one of my closest friends, and the feelings aren’t one-sided. In many ways it feels like we could be really happy together, but I know I’m not ready to jump straight into another relationship. I need time to process the breakup and figure out who I am again outside of the life I built with my ex. What makes it harder is that I’m terrified that while I’m taking that time, he might meet someone else. At the same time, I genuinely want him to be happy, even if that happiness isn’t with me. So I feel stuck in this strange space of caring deeply about someone and believing we could be great together, but knowing the healthiest thing for me right now is to slow down and heal first.