My boyfriend (19 M) and I (18 F) have been dating for roughly a year and a half now. In the beginning everything was amazing, but things have recently turned for the worse. A few months ago, my immediate family moved away to a smaller town about 6 hours away from where my boyfriend lives. This pushed us into a long-distance relationship. Before I moved, I asked him numerously if he was okay with the thought of long-distance, because he had previously expressed he was unsure about it. Eventually we came to a consensus that we would try it out.
However, recently our conversations have been dry and it feels like I'm doing most of the work in the relationship. Granted, our communication isn't the best as we both have to work on that. My boyfriend has never been big on communicating his feelings, and when I ask to talk things out, he shuts me out or responds hours later.
Im seriously stuck on what to do. I would ask my family and friends on advice but I know many would just tell me to leave. I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I have considered that as an option, but I woobuld appreciate any tips or suggestions on how to work things out before I make a serious decision. I've always told him to end the relationship if he doesn't want to be with me anymore, but he keeps saying he still wants to stay. But he never shows me that he does want to stay and I'm starting to get confused by his real intentions. It feels like the more I try, the more he pulls away and it makes me incredibly upset. This is both of our first relationship and we are still quite young. Any suggestions on what I could say or do that could help this issue?