What does "I don't want to hold you back" mean?

SophieSantorini
Basically there was this guy that I have been flirting with for a while, and he always told me how much he liked me. The thing is I moved for college and Ill be in a different state than him for three years. Recently he told me that he just wanted to be friends because he didn't want to hold me back, but later said, really he is just afraid that things won't work out and doesn't want to get hurt. He never initiated contact with me, even though he'd answer whenever I did, so I started not texting him first. He then texted me and said he missed me and didn't understand why I wasn't texting him. So I texted him first today, trying to be nice and said something sweet like have a good day I've been thinking about you- and he completely ignored me. What is his deal?
What does "I don't want to hold you back" mean?
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