AH, Honey, it's so hard to offer an opinion based on just this, but whatthehay, I have had no coffee this morning, so I am feeling particularly gamey:
I can't believe this is the way you all communicate...<sigh>
What I see is that this man is paralyzed with fear. He has gotten to a place where he can't say anything for fear that you will take it and pick it and parcel it and piece it to death.
And, Sweetie, that's cause you do.
Why don't you just let him talk...why do you fill in the blanks before he even completes a thought? You say you don't want to assume, but yet, you do. Your comments back to him suggest (and again, this is hard in this format) that you don't even let him put the period at the end of the sentence before you jump in with your feeling and thoughts and analysis and conclusions about what he said...
I mean read that, you didn't listen and didn't respond to what he said, you just kept talking about what you thought.
In the words of my dear ex, the man doesn't know whether to [censored] or go blind.
You two need a break from each other, serious no contact, no discussion, no analyzing, no choosing your words carefully, you need to have no words to choose or analyze.
I agree with PL, give it some space, give it some rest.
You are spinning yourself in place and he is going to say nothing honest or useful or heartfelt at this point because he's completely terrified that what he says may be taken the wrong way, give the wrong signal, send the wrong message, and most of all, not be heard.
Just let it be for awhile.
Find a way, even if it means contriving things, to just not deal with him.
hope this isn't too harsh, no caffeine makes me crabby, hugs, BA
