Ghosted after trying to end it

I (23f) met a guy (24m) off hinge. We went on two very very good dates and had a sleepover (no sex). Things were progressing fast but organically so and going extremely well. He was extremely respectful, kind and gentle. I was still cautious as early days but enjoying getting to know him more and more.

However three days after last seeing each other at the weekend I noticed a slight shift in energy. He was still replying fast making conversation etc, yet my gut instinct said something was off, he had also not asked me to do anything yet. By the weekend, I decided to send a text to end it as I was convinced he had (extremely suddenly) lost interest. My friends told me to hold off and give him a chance. By Monday he still had not asked me to do anything, so I decided to text asking him what the story was.

He apologised for having not asked me out already, saying he was skint until payday and busy preparing for a big holiday he had coming up. I was understanding of this (we are both young professionals and the holiday he had coming up was very expensive) and suggested doing something low-cost, but he told me his family were visiting that weekend and it was his last chance to see them before Christmas. He insisted he wasn’t putting me off, said he wanted to take things slow, but reassured me that he did very much want to see me and keep talking to me. I gave him the chance to end things if he’d lost interest, but he denied that, was extremely apologetic again, and said he should have communicated better.

I wasn’t convinced by his excuses but decided to give it until the end of the week. We spoke as normal, and since we were both on a night out on Friday, I assumed we’d meet up afterwards like before. Instead, he went silent. The next morning he messaged me, I replied, but then he opened my text and never responded, ghosting me.

It’s my first time being ghosted and I’m baffled. I don’t understand why he decided to drag it on the last week when I gave him ample opportunity to jump ship Monday. I also don’t understand why he (now clearly) lied on Monday. I don’t understand how he did a 180 on me in the first place. The kind person I thought I knew seemed so disconnected from the same person who ghosted me. in my eyes I did everything right, was cautious, didn’t get ahead of myself and tried to remove myself from the situation when my gut told me to , yet I still got ghosted and hurt.

Why did he do this?