He's Just Not That Into Me

"Have you met anyone lately?"

"No, as I haven't gotten over you.", I replied.

"Since we barely know each other, what do u find so attractive about me?"

"Couldn't we be friends?", he asked in messenger.

"My sis wants me to buy something for her", I changed the topic, while talking to my sis on the phone and putting down the Uzap belt I've just used as a placebo for my stubborn waistline.

We exchanged a few lines unrelated to his previous question.

Then he went offline, suddenly.

To be honest, I do not know how to respond. While we were "intimate" on the first date, he made it clear on the second date onwards that he just wanted us to be friends, to get to know each other, and that he is busy. He is so busy with other commitments that he is unable to commit to a relationship with me.

We met a few times occasionally, with our relationship getting platonic gradually. I did not mind initially, but I was getting increasingly anxious as I was looking for a proper long term relationship, LTR, and he is not.

"You know it's difficult being with you wondering when you will be ready to commit?", I couldn't hold myself any longer.

"I am not ready. And I don't want to hurt you. Go meet people out there. I am not ready to commit", he mentioned something along those lines.

This is what makes gay relationship more complicated than it should be. While a typical straight couple went out together on several dates with the expectation to become husband and wife and build up a  family in the future, there is no such thing in a gay relationship. Regrettably, it's more about lust, physical attraction, and excitement with the variety of choices out there.

I know in this respect, he is a great guy who only wants to be friends for the moment, but I do not know what he wants in the future, especially when he mentions getting a wife and kids, a seemingly easy way out to satisfy the expectations of his parents, relatives, and society as a whole.

By asking me to meet other people, I took it that He's just not that into me, and I decided to move on but him asking whether we can continue being friends baffled me.

I couldn't get the chance to answer his question, but I hope he knows that  there are certain emotional baggage I need to dispose of before I can actually befriend him, specifically the longing, the infatuation and the false hope.