my guy friend of 6 years might be catching feelings and i genuinely can’t tell

so this is going to be long but bear with me.

i met this guy professionally when we were both 19. over time it turned into a real friendship — same humour, same wavelength, he kind of became an informal mentor. helped me land my graduate job, taught me how to invest, always showed up for whatever i had going on. never asked for anything back.

then we had a falling out. minor in hindsight, but we were both too stubborn to sort it out. went over a year without speaking.

i sent him a message. he called me one minute later. we talked for two hours.

the message i’d sent beforehand:

“you can be so stubborn, honestly. i held up my end out of respect for what we were to each other — whatever that was. regardless of how you feel about it, i was genuine the whole time, from the very beginning. i’ll always have time and respect for you, no matter how things ended between us. wishing you nothing but the best.”

on the call i asked if he missed me. twice. he said yes both times. he apologised for the miscommunication that caused everything — unprompted.

some context: we’re both 25. he’s an entrepreneur, relocates constantly, currently living abroad. avoidant, pragmatic, very private — i’m genuinely one of the only people he confides in. he’s not in a relationship but he dates. he also gives me unsolicited advice about the guys i’m seeing and teases me about them, which i’ve always found a bit odd.

a few days later we talked on the phone again. another two hours.

he said he was shocked and needs time to process. said he finds me attractive but didn’t see this coming. mentioned he’s currently dating someone and that he’s a one-at-a-time kind of guy. seemed a bit thrown that i had felt this way after i had mentioned talking to other guys on our last call. but then the conversation shifted. he opened up about his family for the first time ever. got vulnerable about his exes. said we get on really, really well.

then, quietly: “you’ve sprung this on me — what if you change your mind in a day?”

i don’t know what to do with any of this. is he catching feelings or just processing a reconnection with someone he genuinely cares about? has anyone been in something like this? what did it turn out to be?