Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes‘ nearly three-year relationship came to a rocky end, a source close to the former couple exclusively tells Us Weekly.

“It was a hard split,” the insider shares. “They had been arguing a lot recently, and their communication wasn’t great in the last month. They were both traveling so much and trying to juggle everything, and the arguments piled up.”

Ballerini, 32, “initiated the conversation,” according to the source, but she and Stokes, 33, acted like “mature adults and had the same understanding that they needed space.”

“There is still a lot of love between them,” the insider tells Us, noting that Ballerini and Stokes are both “extremely busy right now” and, prior to calling it quits, “were trying to make it work.”

Kelsea Ballerini and Chase Stokes' R

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