AIO for wanting more texts from my busy talking stage

I (24f) have been talking to this guy (22m) for about a month, my standards are high and he was exceeding them originally. The only red flag is his lack of responsiveness and it’s been stressing me out. He’s in post grad law school and that’s his main excuse for being bad at answering, i know some ppl who are just bad at it for no reason either so i know it’s not exactly a tell of interest, but it’s starting to bother me. I’ve been holding myself back from connections for a while now--maybe a year--for this exact reason. I thought i had grown past it bc i thought needing texts back was needy but i was wrong (about moving past it). I’ve been good about it i think, pretty understanding, but now that feelings have solidified, i want more lol

for more context, i’ve been left on delivered since 7pm yesterday and i made a joke about being nonchalant and not caring when he validated that he likes me to which he responded w “thanks batman”…..i think im a nerd but i didn’t get it so i asked which batman i am he said im more of a heath ledger joker….HUH. so i asked what he meant by that and haven’t gotten an answer….chat am i cooked ?

I guess im wanting someone who either is or has studied law to tell me that the work load is insane and it makes perfect sense for him to be studying all day every day. He’ll say “this week has been intense and the next week will too, but i’ll plan our next date” and i see that as a good sign, but there’s an evil worm in my brain telling me that’s bs and it isn’t hard to send a quick text to someone. I need to kill the worm, someone help me. Or also validate in the opposite direction and tell me if i should ask for more attention or if im being too much….