I (F 22) an confused about my online friends ( M 21) of 2 years feelings towards me

Hello everyone

I’ve never really posted on Reddit before. I will change somethings (names&location) so that the person that I’ll be writing about won’t recognise me.

Me F22 and an online friend, we’ll call him Tom M21 , met each other in a video game around 2 years ago. Back then we both used to be in a relationship (not with each other obviously) and would spend hours everyday after work/uni in discord calls with other friends playing games, watching movies, anime’s, etc. It was all platonic.

Around 8 months ago I broke up with my boyfriend at the time. I want to emphasise that Tom had nothing to do with this, I never told any of my online friends about my doubts in this relationship, only a few weeks later I told them what happened.

Everything stayed pretty much the same until one day around 2-3 months ago Tom called me privately instead of us being in a vc with our other friends. I didn’t think much of it because it’s not that big of a deal. Us two would be in calls for literal hours, watching movies and shows, playing games and just having so much fun. During this time I found out that he broke up with his girlfriend a while ago, I don’t know the details because he didn’t want to talk much about it and I didn’t want to push him, all I know is that their relationship was a bit rocky and they broke up around 5 months ago.

Here is where it might become confusing but I’ll try my best to make it clear. I’ll be listing some things that stuck with me and I think might mean something.

Tom and I live in neighbouring counties, around a 3-4 hour drive away from each other. We talked a lot about visiting one another, that his mother would cook me meals that he always loved and he knows I would, or that he would meet my parents, learn my countries language so that he can talk to them. He asked what their favourite food or beverage was, so that he can bring it as a gift and make my parents like him. It’s all very sweet.

There was a time where I wasn’t doing too well, stressing about a lot of things and he offered to order uber eats for me. Asking what my favourite food is, bc he wanted to order it for me. I kept saying no, because I don’t want him to “waste” money on me, that I appreciate the gesture but there isn’t a need for it. I had to repeat myself a few times bc I genuinely didn’t want him to spend money on me just bc I was sad. He ended up not getting me anything but still offers to do it sometimes.

A few days ago he said that now because he’s done with uni he can do the things he loves: relax, play games, watch shows and spend time with his favourite person. Which he meant me.

He can always, always tell when I’m in a bad mood. We could be in vc with a bunch of friends, all laughing and he would msg me privately asking if everything is okay, bc he feels like I’m acting differently. I usually decline this because I don’t want to lower the mood and he tells me, that he’ll always listen to me.

We also talked about how he would like to move to my country, bc he’s heard good things about it and the job market is good. More specifically he would want to move in with me. He asked me if there’s any pet peeves I have and I said that I’m kind of a clean-freak, he replied to that by saying he’s messy but he’ll change for me.

A few nights ago he msg me this: “i wanted to be nice before going to sleep so i want to thank you for every single seconds that we spend together i love it, ppl say time is priceless, now i understand what it means thank you to make me laugh, smile and dream whatever happens in my life cuz goddamn i need it so JUST REMEMBER YOU ARE AMAZING”

For my birthday he sent me a plushie of one of my favourite video games, which I didn’t expect at all and was very touched. In return, for his birthday I ordered him a Lego set of his favourite car. He was so happy when he received it, saying that this was the best gift he’s ever gotten and kept saying thank you.

There’s probably other things that i have forgotten to add but I think you get the picture. One thing that kind of stuck to me, why he only sees me as a friend, was something along the lines of: “I want my **friend** to be well/feel good” when I was in a bad mood.

Once he also told me, I guess in a joking way, not to get a boyfriend anytime soon bc it’ll be awkward when Tom and I move in together. I took that as a throw into the friend zone but idk.

He’s a great guy. I don’t want to just straight up ask him if he likes me like that, bc it would be really awkward if not. I’d rather never speak about the emotions that are growing inside me, just to keep this friendship.

So my question for Reddit is: *What am I to him?*

Please ask away in the comments if there’s anything confusing, I’ll try and answer as soon as possible.

TL;DR My (F22) close online friend (M21) talks about moving in with me, buys me thoughtful gifts, and calls me his favorite person, but also refers to me as a "friend." I'm catching feelings and want to know if he sees me as just a friend or something more.