Hoping this can be saved, but having doubts

[reframe]

Thanks AnotherStander. There are bits of positivity, but I don't think anything has changed yet. She's still moving out (today) and still wants to date other people. She's sad about leaving the house, but she's convinced herself this is what she needs to do.

The divorce talk was tough to avoid. We were talking about practicals of the split. We have a preempt that specifies temporary small alimony when we divorce or legally separate.

I indicated that I could start those payments now, but I'd want a doc indicating that they counted as that alimony since we're not getting a D at the moment and I didn't want to be on the hook for them twice.

That prompted her to ask why I don't want to get a D now, "besides hoping we'll get back together".

I said "that's not what I want, this is an intermediate step, and I don't think there is any rush. You can file if you want to, but I'm not going to"

She jumped on the "intermediate" line and said she didn't feel that way, and I indicated that I meant "in between" and not "temporary".

The convo still felt like I could have handled it better, but I'm not sure how.