When XABF was in rehab, I told him that I had to be honest with him, and that we'd have to start over with a lot of things in our relationship. I told him that I didn't trust him anymore, that there was no respect whatsoever in our relationship, and that I wasn't sure I even loved him.
He nodded, sadly, and said that it hurt, but he understood my need to take things slow, and he'd honor that.
I was feeling great, until he started to propose to me, in a concrete room in rehab, just five minutes later.
Alcoholics only hear what they want to hear, twist it into what they want it to mean, and brush off the rest under the premise of "she doesn't really mean that."
Actions are the only way to communicate with an alcoholic, and even then they spend all their energy trying to convince you that "You don't really mean that."