Me (19F) and the guy that im in love with (19M) we used to date in our junior year but broke up due to me asking him to change the way he was treating me and my friend at the time just telling me to break up with him. Keep in mind I’ve liked this guy since i met him, being single for almost a year when he reached out to me in December. He apologized for everything that happened and i accepted it and game him a clean slate and second chance. Falling in love with him all over again wasn’t hard— i never liked or loved him to change him or to make him “perfect” i love all of his imperfections and flaws. I love that he can cry and be soft with me i love how i have became more open and happier/lighter. On his birthday i wrote him a love letter of sorts since he was going back to the marines and i wasn’t going to see him so i thought might as well lay it out. On my birthday the day after his he said he loved me back but then later on he told me that he loved me but not with the same intensity that i do which is fine. He also confessed that he’s holding how he feels back because he doesn’t want to miss me/ doesn’t want it to hurt as much as it would if he was head over heels in love. He also said that he doesn’t feel like he deserves the love and kindness i show/give him but i want him to understand that he deserves the world.
Its weird because i feel like the feelings are there i just don’t understand whats holding him back idk if its just that we wont see me a lot because he’s going to be gone for 4 years or because he just wants me to be a place holder for someone who’s better.
He recently went back and told me he couldn’t put in words how he feels about me. He calls me baby and treats me like his girlfriend but i don’t know why he could still be scared to go into this full on.
Should i still continue to try and have faith that this will work out or just call it quits? (All advice would be appreciated)