Said he realized we were better off as friends (after 4 months)

so heres the story before shipping off to basic i went to a place called meps. this is the initial place u go to before shipping off to basic and the army. I see this guy that i think is pretty cute but i dont think much about it after that since i thought i wouldnt see him again. two weeks later its the day i ship out and i see him again! this time im like i have to get this dudes number so we can stay in contact. we never really talked js made a bunch of eye contact but u could kinda tell we liked each other. i get to the airport and i finally get his number bc hes with a group of guys that all have the same job as we all do and we all exchange phone numbers. that same night im waiting for the bus so that i can finally arrive at reception and that whole three hours were texting back and forth. even one of the guys from that group mentions how were “lovebirds” and were talking so much. so bc im in basic i only get my phone once a week, i end up talking to him once and then not until about a month later i text him again. im telling him hey i dont think im gonna graduate on time bc i got injured and i feel bad that we cant see each other soon. (the background is that after basic its called ait so at ait u learn ur “job” so we had the same ait that i was supposed to go to but it got delayed) this whole time im staying “overtime” at basic we end up talking more and more flirting a bit and calling for hours eveuntally i ask if hes single and he says yes. he doesnt ask me until a few days later if i like him. i asked him if he meant in the more than friends way and he said yes and described how i had a cute smile and that he thought about if i liked him ever since the airport. i told him i liked him back asked him out and he said yes. eveuntally i finally get to ait and he gets held back or “recycled” which means he goes with a group that just started (aka my group) so im like its so meant to be right? bc of this we have more opportunities to see each other we texted the whole day i was flying to there and everything was going pretty well. then he started texting less and i thought it was bc he was busy studying but then someone tells me they overheard that hes breaking up with someone. i ask him and he says that hes been meaning to talk to me about it but didnt want to mess up my studying and testing. he also says that after hanging out with me and getting to know me he thinks were better off as friends. it kinda fucking sucks after liking someone for so long practically falling in love js to get broken up with like that. i js dont totally get it thank you so much if u got to the end.