I like my Straight friend

Well, it's great that you told him. Even though it may have made things harder, it's best because now you can try to find other avenues to learn more about yourself and your sexuality. It seems like he cares about you enough to try to give you support, but it seems like, unfortunately, a relationship is not in the cards. I think it's ok to stay friends, but try not to hang on his every word or read too much into what he says or does. I know it's pretty emotional for you to interact with him, but try not to spend too much time thinking about the way you feel and how it changes with each text or conversation. I think the best thing to do would try to find a support system elsewhere. Your friend seems like a nice person, but he is not the right person to be your primary source of advice on issues with your sexuality. Good luck!

 

This is a pretty confusing scenario between the two of you, so I can see why, with your own emotions thrown in, it would be hard to figure out where this guy is coming from. My impression is that he does care for you at some level, but he is immersed in a personal context which is telling him that having those kind of feelings about you is "wrong", so he is trying to fight his own emotions while at the same time trying to discourage you from feeling the same way about him, so that he will not have to deal with how he is feeling about you.

I don't think there is anything you can do with him to help him along in his process of sorting himself out. If he had strong feelings about you, they would probably have overcome the negative factors which are causing his conflict, and resulted in him coming on to you. Instead, he is continuing to send you mixed signals of caring about you but "only as a friend" who he can't respond to except as a friend, even if there are bottled up feelings inside him that are more. I think you have probably come to the right conclusion that you should treat him just as a friend, because that is all his internal confusion will allow him to respond to at the present time, and look elsewhere for a boyfriend.