He said we're still friends but I feel I've lost him

Sounds to me that you have put out mixed messages to your friend. He asked you to respect his orientation. You messaged him a couple of times after your conversation but his response was not what you hoped for. So you blocked him. Friends don’t block friends. He couldn’t reach out to you even if he wanted to. I think you should first unblock him. And then wait. Wait until you have a reason to text him - his birthday, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, your new job in his city. Ask him to meet you for coffee, lunch, a drink. And then wait. Wait for him to respond. And don’t block him because you think you have waited long enough. Friends don’t block friends.

 

You blocked him thats way more of a message than him not making conversation, for all he knows you did not want to still be friends with him. Blocking was a really bad move.

 

Think about it this way, he probably felt really bad when you told him as he did not reciprocate and you’re friends so he would care about your feelings, I know I would feel bad upsetting a friend by not reciprocating the feelings back, maybe he felt a bit uneasy messaging after but a text from you asking why he was not interacting is way better than blocking. To him maybe you were angry about him not liking you back.

 

Welcome to EC idontwannabeyou.

This one quote sticks with me. If you said you needed to pull away, and he is your friend, he’s going to respect that. A friend wouldn’t text or otherwise reach out if he’s been asked to give space. A friend who heard this from you won’t be surprised that you blocked him. A friend who heard this from you may be really glad when you feel ok to be friends again, and unblock him.

 

I'm so sorry this all went down this way. Sadly, I've been attracted to straight friends here and there too. I think we all have. Another bad side is that when this happens, it usually doesn't go well. I'm not saying don't tell people you like that you like them as more than just a platonic friend, I'm just saying I know this is something that usually pushes the straight friend away or the person who has not yet confirmed to themself yet exactly who they are in order to even have a relationship. It's all tough and messy. I agree with everyone, please unblock him. Text when you have a reason to reach out and throw in (maybe) that A) you miss your friendship and stress the word friendship. Then B) also tell him that you're relocating closer to him and you'd like to resume the friendship you had. I really hope this goes your way. Train your eyes to another interest (as in dating interest) the situation will only change and be stable if maybe he would approach you if he has any interest in something beyond friendship. That's usually the way I've seen this work. We all fall differently on the Kinsey Scale. Few of us are 100% gay or 100% straight. There are 99%s and 98%s, etc. Don't expect anything above a friend, but know for next time if they're straight-- let them make the first move. It's safer in preserving the friendship. I'm so sorry this is hurting you.

 

I agree with Chip, you're really drawing a bunch of conclusions about signals that you believe this guy to be sending you via his posts. It seems like yall had a very sweet friendship before all of this happened and I hope that in the future you try not to place so much emphasis on what people might be communicating based on what they say/don't say online. I noticed that your status says 'brooding', you should stop doing that and try to move on with your life. There are plenty of people out there that I'm sure would reciprocate those kinds of feelings for you.

 

THIS IS GENERAL ADVICE READ FURTHER DOWN FOR THE ADVICE AIMED DIRECTLY AT YOU, READING THE FIRST PART WILL PROVIDE MORE CONEXT

I had this same experience last year, told I close friend I loved them, and they told me they couldn't reciprocate, for a few months things were aquard between us but now we are great friends again, but this situation can be easy to resolve, you need to show them that your feelings that you have(had) for them don't change how you see them as a person, and that they don't change you as a person, you might even need to sit down and have the "I have feelings for you, but I respect your opinion" talk, and they might have just disconnected to to nervousness on both parties sides, for all you know they were scared to talk back because they had a worry that they would hurt you.

Now for the real thick part of my advice, your gonna need to take this friendship from the start, ask about how they have been doing, the basics, slowly reconnect with them and rekindle that friendship that you had forged over years, this will take time but the outcome will be worth it, I promise, and they may tell you that they don't want you in there life anymore, but rest easy knowing that you tried, and at the very minimum you made some memories with them that they will remember for a long long time.