I (27M) had a crush on a female classmate from high school. While my interactions with my female classmates was always respectful and civil, none were ever as sweet and kind as she was. As someone who was shy and underconfident, I was terrible at expressing my feelings to anyone at that time. After graduation, we lost touch and hadn't spoken to one another for over 2 years.

Thanks to a group of mutual friends, we were able to meet again. We started to become close friends as we shared nicknames and frequently texted one another. After unsuccessfully hinting for a while about how I felt about her, I eventually confessed my feelings; only for her to FZ me outright. I had initially accepted how she felt and was able to move as I was overseas at the time. We were able to remain friends for the next few years years and had fully accepted that things were not meant to be for us.

That all changed one night when I got a sudden text from her saying that she had been having feelings for me and whether if I was single and interested in giving a chance with her. As someone who still hadn't had a gf, I was elated that she had changed her mind about me and was willing to give me a chance. At the same time (and after consulting a few friends), I was moving overseas again in a few days and did not want to immediately go long-distance which ended up in me rejecting her.

I eventually realized that I had made a mistake in rejecting the one woman who liked me and tried asking her out again; only for her to reject me once again. This time, her reason was that she had "rushed into her feelings" when asking me out and that we actually were better off staying friends. Unlike last time, I was devastated by her rejection and could not accept the possibility of us staying 'just friends' again after everything that was said between us.

After requesting some time apart to re-evaluate our friendship, I realized that as long as we were friends, I would always have feelings for her and the friendship itself would become toxic for my mental health. I sent her a farewell text explaining how she was my first love and that I hope she finds someone who would make her happy. While not responding to my feelings, she appreciated my kind words and wished the same for me.

When I told my friends about what I did, some of them criticized me for being immature about the whole thing and that I should simply just continue to be friends like before. AITAH?