New and need encouragement

[Not Quitting]

So, things have just changed up a step. We had a long talk last night. He says he does want to save our relationship but just doesn't know how. He admitted that OW is still in picture but that he has been ignoring texts from her lately if he's with the family. He admitted he knows that having her around still is not being 100% committed to saving things. It seems that an older couple he is friends with have told him he needs to try harder to save his marriage because we've "been together too long to just walk away without fighting to save it". They have offered him use of their spare bedroom so that he can have space and time to figure out how he wants to proceed. He also hinted that maybe they'd have an insight into making things work since they've made their marriage work for decades.

He moves out at the end of the month, but has stated that he doesn't want it to be permanent. In fact, he is only going to take some of his clothes, toiletries and his laptop with him, nothing else at this time because he wants to work things out between us and come back to the family. We'll be telling S13 on the weekend about what he's referring to as a trial separation. He asked if I still want to work on us, and I told him that I did. We'll spend the next week working out logistics of finances and visitation. He wants to tell S13 that he's moving out for a while so that we can have a fresh start. He doesn't want it to be "no contact", and I've agreed to that.

At least he's admitted that he does want to work things out - that's a big step IMO as up until now he's only said he wasn't sure what he wanted. He's also admitted that he doesn't know how to move on from this point and has asked that we do it together, albeit living under separate roofs for now.

He was also a lot more open and affectionate, and made more eye contact than lately. He commented that he wasn't sure how I felt because I'd been withdrawn - pulling back may not work for us as feeling neglected has been given as one of the problems we have.

I'll be so glad when I have the books and can read up and get a better idea how to move forward. I'm trying not to read too much into this attitude change, and struggling to stay detached, but I'm going to keep doing my best.