Getting what you want out of R with an emotionally unavailable person is nothing but frustration and heart ache.
The unemotionally available person doesn't keep you at arms length to be cruel. It's actually a deep seeded issue to rejection. I once read that emotionally unavailable and passive aggressive people reject and push away the people the wish to be closest to.
They also will do push- pull actions as well. Him not being able to say " I love you" back to you and then getting angry when you try to talk to him about it, yet turn right around and act as if everything is fine. They can't say it, but they don't want to lose you either.
I know it's hard, but I agree with T^2. Stay broken up with him. Staying in a relationship with someone emotionally unavailable is a very lonely, frustrating and ultimately very hurtful thing to do to ourselves.
I know this, given my XH has been emotionally unavailable for years now. And if it's any sort of help, my XH was very much like your BF. Kept to himself, never truly socialized, went to work, went home, and gamed on WoW up to 18 hours a day, but at least 6 hours a day for sure. The minute he started playing that game...that's really when he became my XH. He told me it was an escape and he didn't have to deal with anything in life.
