My Bestfriend is my Ex.. help!

My ex and I dated for 5 years. We were best friends all through highschool. Since we were 13. We are now 22. At the end of 11th grade he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes.

We were that couple that made everyone want to puke from seeing our love. It was amazing. We loved each other so much. But we were so young (17). I was an insecure, shy, girl and he wanted his life back. And he started meeting people in University and i guess he got bored of me. And we sort of fell out of love with each other. I was hurting because I didnt feel loved and he was hurting because he always felt blamed.

When we broke up, it was like my whole world was gone. My future, my friends, my family everything was gone. I was so scared because i relied on him for so long. But ive been slowly getting better, i really listened to my feelings and my friends. Im working on myself. And he is too. It feels good to be separate people.

We have no bad blood between us, actually we started treating each other soooo much better after the break up. More respect and more effort to stay friends. I told him i wanted to go somewhere and take pictures, and he actually said yes. When we were dating it would be a “no. I don’t have time.” And its confusing for us. But also our friends. We’ve had the same friends since high school and we’re keeping everything normal.

But my girl friends and almost everyone on the internet says we cant be normal. We need time apart. To sort out our feelings. And we cant just jump into friendship asap. (Its been a month since the break up and we talked and hung out a few times) we don’t love each other like that anymore, and he likes someone else and I’m happy being me. And his new person is helping him gain confidence and he’s making me proud. It does sting a little seeing them do things together. But i rather have him in my life than not.

Why cant we be friends right away? It really makes me sad that everyone is saying this. I feel like I’m doing something wrong. When it actually helped a lot, us staying friends. I would hurt at random times but, not as much as if we cut ties immediately. I would just miss the physical stuff, sex, holding hands and hugging. But if i have to give that up to be a decent person to my best friend, i would happily give it up.

So am I wrong? I need more time? Its been a month. More space? I dont want to feel “wrong” hanging out with my best friend. Its so hard for people to understand our relationship and its so frustrating to be constantly told to stay away from him. Hes not a bad guy, and nothing he’s doing is because of me and vice versa. So whats the problem?? I dont understand. I do hurt sometimes but just because i feel lonley and just want to hug him but thats it. I feel like we’re still good friends when we hug. Its very comforting. But not in a lover way... And i have no plans to win him back either. Can someone clear it up for me?

Help.. :(

Side question: him and i used to have movie nights together before we even dated. Now everybody including him, thinks its weird??? Whyy?? Im not gonna jump his bones!! Why does everybody have to make it weird??? Im just trying to be myself again and everybody’s looking at me like im crazy for even thinking of being in my room alone with him. We are not going to have sex. So whats the problem?!?