So I've been with my current SO for about 6 months. It's been going well. He's respectful, caring, and devoted. His only real flaw is that he tends to move very quickly emotionally, even to his own detriment. He doesn't have any cultural or religious obligations, he had a healthy upbringing, and he has his own money, so I'm not sure why he likes to move so fast. And he does this with all his relationships.

A few month after we started dating, he wanted me to move in with him. We crunched the numbers, and he realized that it wasn't financially feasible. So he moved on from the idea. About a month later, he brought up the idea of marriage over the phone. It was more of a hypothetical question at the time rather than an official proposal. We discussed it, and he realized it was too soon. So he moved on from that idea, too.

The next few months passed fairly quickly, and our relationship has remained steady. Things are still going well.

Then it was Christmas. We stayed busy from Christmas eve all the way until about 5:00 AM the next morning. After he and I happily exchanged gifts, there was a sudden shift in the air. Everything got oddly quiet and still. Not knowing what else to say, I turned to him and said, "I'm tired." He didn't really respond other than to suddenly say, "I'll be right back," as he dashed off to his bedroom and shut the door behind him. I sat there on the couch, both confused and somehow knowing what was coming.

I remained sitting on the couch. My back was to him, since the bedroom was behind me. You could have heard a pin drop in those 30 seconds as he prepared himself to make his next move.

He finally approached me. I can't remember exactly what he said. It was all a sort of blur. But he got down on one knee and told me about how he wanted to live the rest of his life with me in it. In his hand was a ring he'd purchased . . . for his ex. He'd prematurely proposed to her, too.

i couldn't figure out how to respond, because I was too shocked. I remember my head feeling numb, my heart racing, and my mind just trying to process the situation. I just kept asking him if this was really happening. It was definitely happening, though, because I've never seen such intense pleading in anyone's eyes before.

From there, I asked him to sit down next to me so we could talk about it. I held his hand as I walked through the reality of this decision. I can't remember everything we talked about (again, it was a blur). But as we talked, he realized he'd rushed it.

By that point, it was after 5 AM, so we decided to continue the discussion the next day.

So the next day, we talked about it again. He agreed that there was no reason to rush this. But I still wasn't sure why he felt the need to rush, so I dug a little deeper.

He said I accept him. In his case, people don't accept him very often. He's not always very socially perceptive and may even be on the Autism spectrum, and I think that throws people off. So I think when he finds a potential romantic partner (or potential friend) that accepts him, he holds on to that as tightly a possible, even at a cost to him. But that's about all I know at this point. So we talked it over, and that was that. That seemed to smooth things over.

But now that I've had time to reflect, the shock is really hitting me, and I'm not sure what to discuss with him at this point. A proposal is a huge deal, and I'm not sure how to fully process this. I enjoy our time together, and I'm still attracted to him. We have something good. I'm jut not sure how to handle this. I'm not even sure there's anything to handle. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, and I just need to sweep the proposal under the rug. I'm jut confused, I guess. Help!

tl;dr: My boyfriend of 6 months proposed to me, and the reality of it is really hitting me now. Send help.