You said he is not responsible for them misleading themselves. I agree. I was seeing this guy exclusively for about a year and it was local seeking fucking getting serious. He used the "L" word first, and brought up living together. He took me to meet his mother, then to his class reunion where he introduced me as his friend. It seemed odd., he said we were "buddies," and there was a definite chill in the air. I'm not cool with unspoken nuances, so I went right to it. I told him I don't fuck my buddies. If that's where he wanted things to go, he shouldn't expect me to move in and play house. Quit the "L" crap if he didn't mean it, from then on I would be seeing other people. Some people slide in and out of roles with FBs FWBs. The OP seems to have been honest from the start. The guy I was seeing wasn't. It can be a murky area when either side isn't being honest with him/herself, or the other person involved. I might have been cool with just being FWBs, I can't say, but I was definitely not cool with bait switch.