| (18M) know it wouldn't have worked long-term with her (18F), so why can't | let go?

TL;DR: Strong feelings with a girl, perfect connection, but life circumstances don’t match—she ended it, and I can’t emotionally let go.

I don’t usually turn to the internet for personal problems, but this time I genuinely don’t know what to do.

About four months ago, I (18M) met a girl (18F). Even though it surprised me, my feelings for her hit me really quickly and intensely. I’m pretty introverted, so at first I didn’t have the courage to text her.

About a week later, she actually reached out to me, and we started talking. It turned out she felt something similar, and honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been that happy before.

What’s been bothering me ever since is how different this felt compared to anything I’ve experienced before. Everything felt natural and familiar right away, and our communication was open and honest. To me, it just felt… perfect. At the same time, I constantly had this fear of losing her and found myself overthinking every little detail of my behavior and hers.

The real problem is that our life situations just don’t match, at least not for the next few years. We would barely have time for each other, probably wouldn’t be able to see each other often, and would constantly have to make compromises. Realistically, a relationship under those circumstances would most likely fall apart sooner or later, even if the feelings are there.

Because of that, she decided to end things, even though the attraction was mutual. Rationally, I understand her decision and I even think it was probably the right one. But emotionally, I just can’t accept it.

Since then, I’ve been feeling really bad. It doesn’t just feel like I lost a person who felt like home, but also a relationship that could have been something amazing under different circumstances.

My mind tells me to let go and move on like nothing happened, but my heart just wants her.

I know I’m only 18 and this might sound dramatic, but this feels very real and overwhelming to me right now.

How do you deal with something like this? And how do you actually let go when you don’t want to?