Met a HVM at my college a earlier this year. He approached me after class and asked what I am majoring in and made a joke based around that. I asked him if he wanted to join me while I smoked a cigarette before I left campus and he told me that he wanted to take me on a date instead. He paid for everything and drove me home after. Wanted to have sex, but i said no and he respected that I won’t have sex with someone I just met. Took me on a few nice dates after that, then admitted his love for me few weeks later. After we had decided we were exclusive, we had sex a few times. He used to text all day and call me every night just to chat and ask how my day was going.

A few months into this I was hospitalized for a few weeks and unable to access my phone. When I was able to, I had my sister give him the number to access me while I was in there and he would call the hospital to talk to me twice a day. He offered to pick me up when I was discharged and I let him. Before this happened, I was kicked out of my parents home and when I was discharged he offered me to move into his place. I told him I was uncomfortable with the idea due to past relationships and he wasn’t offended. I told him that I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone, but he insisted that he was in love with me and would wait for me to come back. I left the next day to stay with a family member out of state while I recovered. Phone calls and texts were still the same as when we were in the same city, but he couldn’t come visit me due to work and being unable to miss class. I started planning on coming back to the area and he offered me to move in with him and take care of my financial needs until I find a new place to live. I agreed that it would be a good idea and purchased a plane ticket back. Since I’ve bought my ticket, he’s been texting and calling less and less. In this month, we’ve had about 3 phone calls. His phone did break (it had a cracked screen before I left and the touch screen was hard to use) but he got one of those prepaid phones to text me from last week. The last time we spoke on the phone (Monday), he jokingly asked what I would do if he didn’t pick me up from the airport. I told him I would come to his house, knock on the door then beat him up (jokingly) and he laughed. Later he told me he was going to fold his laundry and would call me after he finished. Haven’t heard from him since.

I’m unsure if he’s ghosting me/ being a coward about not actually wanting me to come back, or if his phone is just straight up busted. My flight is in 5 days and I’m not sure what to do or say to him at this point. I’ve texted him about 4 times (on both his regular phone and the temporary phone) with no response from either. I genuinely don’t know what to do at this point. I’m waiting from a response from him before I message him again, but what should I say?