Look, you are in a very emotionally vulnerable position. This is the biggest movement you've made from your W SINCE the CB stuff. All you need to do is be AWARE of that.
It is simply a brute fact that most dating Rs don't end in LTRs. That's why we have to date.
You and MM seem to have a good thing going which seems to be good for you. But that doesn't mean that it is in a bubble separate from the rest of your life. It isn't.
So, just be aware of that -- when you feel the neediness rather than joy, that neediness is about your old M. THAT is why you need to back off and make space. Don't carry that into the new R. It shouldn't be the job of the new R to fix that for you, and that neediness will squash the bright spots out of the new R if you don't acknowledge it and show it the hand.
