because now he fears that I won't want to come home. What is up with this?
Nothing to worry about, is it?
He expressed his "fear" that you may actually like life without him, and his fear is that he won't have you in a relationship with him, so his fear is really about his facing loss and abandonment. That's a personal issue he has to confront and work through.
But all that's really happened is that you two have separated from living together, in order to have time and space in which to both heal and grow and examine your issues and work in a healthy manner toward coming back together. Very positive stuff.
