A young man and woman who sat down for a conversion during a recent episode of The And inspired viewers as they talked about how they have maintained their friendship after breaking up.
The duo, only identified as Elon and Lewis, proposed questions to each other during the segment and expressed that their love is still strong despite ending their relationship.
The relationship didn't end on bad terms, according to the couple. But they had to move on after learning that their goals didn't align, particularly because Lewis remained hesitant in committing to marriage and having children.
"If for some reason I lost my memory, what is the first thing you'd tell me about us?" Elon asked as the pair exchanged questions.
Lewis brought a glowing smile to his ex with his response.
"I would say that I'm your best friend and that I love you more than most people I know," the young man said. "We can talk for hours and you can always say anything to me. Your family is basically my family. We grew up with each other. We're basically one person."
When it was his turn to propose a question, Lewis asked "how do you think our lives would be different if we never met?"
Elon had a hard time imagining what her life would have been like without Lewis.
"You're one of my long-term friendships I have had," she said. "I probably would have been by myself and just did certain things alone. It's hard to imagine."
Lewis said he wishes that he had been more open about certain topics, such as mental health, while the couple was together.
"I was afraid of losing you or you not liking certain aspects, that you would have found out about me or something," he said.
Elon said there were times when she questioned the love in their relationship. She added that Lewis' lack of commitment to their future goals made her feel like he wasn't interested in staying together. The young woman continued that she started going to therapy for her anxiety and it helped her understand Lewis' depression.
"A lot of times I would think that things you would say were reflections of something I would be doing wrong when really it was not about me at all," Elon said. "I made it about myself in moments I should have been listening more to you. When we revisited those aspects, even in our friendship, I felt closer to you because I could communicate with you in a way where for the first time we understand where each other was coming from."
Despite the couple ending their relationship, Lewis admitted that he may have regrets if Elon was to get married.
"I feel like once you do get married and start doing the other side of life, I feel like it will start getting harder," he said while talking about the possible regrets he would have.
Before closing out the discussion, Lewis had one more pivotal question on his mind.
"Before we broke up, if I proposed to you, what would you say?" he asked.
Elon said the commitment would have probably made her feel more secure about the future, but she's still not sure if she would have stayed.
The duo received praise on social media for sitting down with each other after a breakup and having an open conversation.
"These are the two best communicators I have ever seen! I learned so much. Masterclass! Props to them," one Instagram user wrote.
Others couldn't imagine themselves having the same type of willingness.
"This would have to be hard. I haven’t been in a serious relationship, but this would have to be hard to do. Especially if you have good history and really loved that person," a social media user said.
As Blavity previously reported, The And is a production of The Skin Deep, a video series where two people have in-depth personal discussions about various types of relationships.
