Did we misunderstand each other or should I leave it alone?

So I met this guy through work last November. He came in an bought an energy drink and I thought he was cute and just decided to go to his job (next door) that same night. I didn’t think anything of it but he reacted with “hey What are you doing here?” And then showed up at my job a few days later again and basically we just continued that for a month until I gave my number to his coworker to give to him. He came in the next day and said we should definitely hang out. I was still a little shy and hesitant during this period but he also didn’t follow through. He suggested hanging out 2 more times that same month. On the third time I asked him what days he had off and he said they might change because they’re rehiring someone and he said he would let me know, but never did and I never asked. Yet, we still continued visiting each other at work every week for months. Sometimes he would say something flirty or personal, like I told him I was buying a record to calm a puppy I was watching down and he said “it should, especially with some good company” but I never really responded to his comments like that.

After like 6 months of this I finally decided to ask him if he still wanted to hang out sometime and this time he said “maybe” and panicked and started naming songs his band had been working on. He then came into my job 3 days in a row that next week and I just didn’t really bring it up again and we seemed to be settling back into our usual rhythm. But then around a week or two into us feeling like normal again I had to leave on a family trip for 3 weeks. I made sure to let him know so he didn’t think I ghosted him or something. So when I came back I started leaning back into the dynamic and continued the visits.

I found out from coworkers that he was still coming in while I was gone, even literally up until the day before we saw each other again. So I went back to visit him at work and he was still very warm and present and engaging, he even seemed a little more engaged, except that he stopped coming into my job at all. So I assumed he was trying to fade or ghost and something in me made me write him a note that basically told him I liked him since I thought it was already ending. I’m not sure why I did that, but a week and half later I went to his job and he basically told me he wasn’t ready for a relationship, then continued like everything was ok between us, meanwhile I thought he was just rejecting me.

I was confused because after he said he wasn’t ready he said “see ya later!” Or held his hand out for me when I was waking to the register, and also asked what happened to my car. I’m assuming because he saw my parents come get it from the parking lot. So by this time it had been a few days since he said he wasn’t ready and I decided to ask for clarity one more time and told him I was confused. I didn’t know if he wanted to just stop talking all together or not. I told him that I didn’t mean I want a relationship or anything and meant that I just liked talking to him and getting to know him. He was also very vulnerable and admitted things like how he’s socially awkward, unable to maintain even friendships, his views and desires for the future, his views on hook up culture and again repeated he wasn’t ready for a relationship but he still liked seeing me and talking to me. I was still feeling rejected and so that’s all I heard. We got interrupted and had to go up front. I took the opportunity to ask him to clarify one last time and honestly, I don’t even remember what I said or what he said. Whatever it was made me say “I guess this is goodbye then” and he just stared at me speechless. Then I found out he came to my job two days later right after I had left but now it’s been two months and I’m wondering if I was too reactive? Keep in mind he never texted me during the whole 7 months we were doing this and even said he never even bothered to, but it wasn’t that he didn’t want to. I also never really said anything vulnerable until the end or asked or clarified either. I feel like we both might have jumped to conclusions and like we never got a real chance to talk about it. I was thinking of just telling him I didn’t mean to make things weird or final and that I was just overwhelmed and confused but basically there aren’t any hard feelings and if he would be open to talking to I would like that. I guess I just feel like I never told him how I truly felt and never gave it a real chance.