u/EntranceSea1389

Okay, I genuinely need an outside perspective because I feel like I’ve been living in my own head about this for way too long 😭last year, I had an additional paper class in my college and noticed this guy there. We had a few random eye-contact moments and eventually started talking a little. Nothing dramatic happened, but I found him attractive and developed a crush.At some point, I found him on our class group and started messaging him mostly about the academics. We eventually became somewhat comfortable talking, but the pattern was almost always that I initiated and he replied. He was never rude or cold, but he also didn't really pursue the conversation or initiate much. So I eventually assumed he wasn't interested and stopped trying.Then, months later,(he wasn't attending lectures during those months) he randomly texted me first asking about the lecture.It took me a month to actually know his name.After that, when we saw each other again, things became much more comfortable.There were little things that confused me:

He would make space for me to sit next to him.

He remembered when I hadn't attended class.

He would sometimes walk with me and we'd take the same route home.

He acknowledged that I was trying hard to talk to him and literally told me he was introverted but was “trying.”

We had this stupid little handshake ritual every time we parted 😂

Once I teased him about his hair always falling over his forehead and he actually fixed it while laughing.

We followed each other on Instagram.

Later, after the class ended, we still occasionally talked.At one point he himself initiated a conversation and asked if we could talk on the phone, and we ended up talking for around 50 minutes. It wasn't romantic, but we talked about random personal stuff too.There have been other small moments where he seemed genuinely comfortable and engaged with me.

BUT.

He has never actually made a clear romantic move.

Even when I stopped messaging, he didn't consistently come looking for me. Most of our conversations have still been initiated by me, although there have been a few occasions where he initiated himself.I've liked him for YEARS at this point, and I've tried multiple times to get over it. Sometimes I genuinely think I'm over him, and then somehow he pops back into my head again.Recently we started talking again. Nothing serious, just normal conversation.I made my mind that okay I'll confess him so I texted him tonight and I asked where are you he told me he's currently on a trip with friends. We joked around for a bit and the conversation ended normally.And now I'm sitting here thinking:

Should I finally tell him everything?

Not in a “please date me” way. More like:

“I liked you for a really long time. I never said anything because I always assumed you weren't interested. But some of your actions genuinely confused me, and I could never tell whether you were just being friendly or whether there was something else from your side. Maybe I was simply overanalysing everything because I liked you. I've tried getting over it several times and apparently failed 😂. So I thought I'd finally tell you instead of continuing to make theories in my head. What did you actually think of me/us?”

I'm honestly okay with whatever answer he gives. I'm not expecting him to suddenly confess his love or anything.But part of me thinks maybe I should just stop initiating altogether and see if he ever comes looking for me on his own.

So Reddit, what would you do?

Tell him honestly how I felt and ask how he saw everything, or stop initiating and let his actions (or lack of them) answer the question?

And please be brutally honest. I don't want people just telling me what I want to hear. 😂

I tried to summarise the whole plot in the best way I could but the whole plot is kinda more interested so I can't now decode the whole plot.