Thank you for all the replies, he is a really nice and genuine guy, I really do think he is trying to protect me rather than keep a secret from me - from what he's said it's more his friends' problems that he has got caught up in rather than his own problems, if that makes sense. He has been depressed before, a few years ago and it took him a while to get over that stage in his life; he said that he can feel himself slipping into that situation again and so he clearly needs help. At the moment he just wants to do that himself, but he does have plenty of people around, myself included, who are there for him. He is exceptionally loyal to his friends which I think is a lovely quality, but it seems to have backfired a bit now.

He said that he'd call me this week and I haven't heard anything yet, but it's only been 2 days, I think that if I don't hear anything by Sunday I'll give him a quick call to see how he is. I don't want to hassle him or to put any pressure on him, but I want him to know that I am still thinking of him. He didn't want any of this to happen between us, so I think we should still keep in contact. I'm starting to find it a little easier myself but I still miss him and I am worried about him.

Thanks again, Natassia x

Hi Natassia
I hope you're starting to feel a bit better about things today. I would say just give him some time, if he really is one of those people to wants to be independent and not put too much pressure on the start of a relationship, then perhaps you should step back and let him work it out. I'm not saying disappear altogether, just let him know that if he wants to deal with alone that's fine, but you be there if he needs it. Everyone's different and deals with things in different ways. It's really a pity that something like this has happened so soon after seeing him but if you really like him that much then maybe it's worth letting this run it's course and you can get back on track after. It's true that this is life, and he can't always put one relationship on hold to deal with another, but maybe give him some tome to get over the worst now and see how you feel when everything begins to settle again. I really hope it's sorted ok for you, I was really pleased that you had met someone from your other posts!

Thanks AQ - that is exactly what I am doing. I sent him a quick text yesterday afternoon that didn't really warrant a reply, just letting him know that I was there for him if he wanted and apologising for some things that I said that he may have found insensitive, he may not have done but I thought a lot about our conversation afterwards, and realised that I may have been a bit snappy at times. I feel so bad for thinking he was seeing someone else, I now really know that he's not that kind of guy, basically not what I'm used to! I know texting isn't the best way of communicating but he would have been at work then, and at least he could just read it, no pressure to respond.

I hope that things do work themselves out, but for the moment I am extra-busy with my MSc so throwing myself into that even more than usual, he didn't want me to worry so that I could focus on my work anyway, bless him. I was moping and over-thinking things for a couple of days but feeling ok now, still miss having him around though which is quite pathetic really. Nxx