Should I reach out to my ex?

My avoidant ex broke up with me 8 months ago. I vaguely knew it was coming because he was getting distant but he didn’t give me a clear reason. It felt like we loved each other so much. He just said he couldn’t do it anymore. He was crying a lot so maybe he felt bad, but he hasn’t reached out since. I still love him so much. In my opinion, I think he broke up with me because I didn’t stand up for myself enough. I was really insecure during the last few months of us dating because I felt like we were in different stages and being from him and I also didn’t get the reassurance I needed from him. He was super avoidant, never communicated when things bothered him. We never had repair after our disagreements that I’m sure left us both feeling bad. I was insecure because I wasn’t where I wanted to be yet in my career, I was just getting started. While he has stability and income. I figured out a lot of things since.
We also had disagreements on timelines because he wants kids soon and i want kids but i need at least a few years to figure out my life first. I want to be a professor and dont have all the information yet of which city I’m going to do that in.

We have been in no contact since we broke up. I can feel that he is sad but I don’t know if he regrets it. He watched my story last month. I made us unfollow each other on instagram a few months before. I want him to be mature and just reach out to me normally instead of sending me a reel or watching my story. He is probably just curious as to what I’m up to. I don’t know if he regrets anything.

There were a lot of things he needed to work on too. I think he was insecure about not being man enough. His body count is like 85 (and i have a feeling he hooked up with someone immediately after we broke up) because he needs their validation. But i can’t seem to let him go. My friend said i should reach out to get closure, but I don’t think it’s a good idea because a big part of me still has so much hope and wants him to say he still loves me too. I also feel deeply hurt. He pursued me so intensely in the beginning when I didn’t want to date him. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship of many years. We also lived in different cities. He also dated my sister briefly 10 years ago who means everything to me. They both have dated many many people, but I never wanted to hurt or betray her. It has taken over a year for her to forgive me and get all her anger out and our relationship is still is not yet the same. I sacrificed so much just to be with him. And then when things got hard, he missed me because we were long distance at that time, he broke up with me.

Please be honest with me. My sisters say he lovebombed and manipulated me. But when we were together, it felt like peace and like we were both really happy. I don’t want to cry anymore and feel like I should just do something about my pain. Should I reach out to him for closure? Do you think he regrets it? Or should I just continue to heal and move on?