He said yes but am I just on his hook?

I’m a 18 yr old guy and he’s 19.
He’s the absolute most sweetest guy ever. We met about 2 and a half months ago on Grindr just as a hookup. He made me feel so safe and comfortable and like I’ve never felt before. I could tell he was a great guy.
I had a crush on him and he was leaving me on delivered while messaging others. I started matching his energy and I thought there was no chance he was after a hookup so eventually we just sent a snap per day for the last 3 weeks never meeting up after previously meeting up twice a week and having a good time.
For the 3 weeks we kinda just fizzled out until there wasn’t really anything.
He randomly send me a message a few days ago about how he got me a gift for my birthday in October. He said he was thinking about me while he was visiting Melbourne and the gift reminded him of me.

I thought thats so odd for a hookup. I still had a huge crush on him so I eventually really out of my comfort zone just asked him out on a date over text. Things were good for a day and now we are back to just sending face pics on snap every few hrs (better than once a day)
I asked him out and planned to go to the movies and he seemed keen. He gave a really vague reason why he can’t make a date but told me he would update me soon. The reason makes no sense. He said something about how his mums flight keeps changing so he’s gotta go up north soon. He’s literally where we live. He will be here for days-a week at least. He had a day off work today. I just feel like he’s not actually interested. I feel strung along. If he asked me out I would make time. Especially within the week if I’m around.

He doesn’t know I view his insta but he posts really passive aggressive reposts that I think are aimed at me. One was about how he doesn’t play games and if someone does he’s stepping away. Then we didn’t really talk for a few weeks. That was justified as I was purposely leaving him on delivered to lose feelings. But at the same time I was putting in as much effort into him as he was to me.
Then the day I asked him out he reposted something about being able to understand when someone is busy but he knows when someone is not making him a priority. I was genuinely busy but getting back to him hourly. If they are not about me it’s a red flag and if they are it’s a red flag because it seems so immature and indirect.

Am I just on his hook? Did he just tell me about the gift to put enough effort to keep me around? He’s made no updates about the date for 2 days. I initiate conversations and in my opinion he doesn’t. I’m just confused. I really like him