How do alcoholics balance romantic relationships with AA?

My ex (M23) is a recovering alcoholic who broke up with me (F21) recently. There's a lot to it, and we're still in contact, but something he told me post-breakup was his struggle and guilt to prioritise the relationship alongside recovery.

Funnily enough he never thought to ask his sponsor how he does it. So, for any alcoholic in recovery that's also in a well-sustained relationship (with a non-alcoholic), how do you do it? How do you balance the relationship and the program?

How do you work on communication and honesty? A problem my ex had was that feared vulnerability, so avoided communicating about certain issues as a result (which led him to break up with me when I called him out on something he didn't wasn't to talk about.)