What’s the difference between a guy asking you to catch up as friends, or asking you out?

[Anonymous]

How do you make the distinction between the two?

[Guy13]

Friend requesting
1. Catch-Up means I get your Time free unless you want to buy us something.

2. Date go out to formal dinner or movie or whatever and you pay 50%

Friend.

[AydenHazor]

I always try to communicate what it is personally. If he hasn't said it's a date, assume it's as friends

[melanieeeB]

Personally if he doesn't man up and directly ask for a date, I will take it as a normal meeting up with a friend

[Anonymous]

Can you give me the quote from a guy you're referring to?
Or are you just asking in general?

[Asker]

We were talking about a mutual friend’s birthday and shopping for him and the guy said that we should shop together.

[Asker]

We haven’t been friends or talked to each other in person in 2 years.

[Asker]

Can you tell which it is?

[Opinion Owner]

Ahh ok lol. If he said with a serious tone and in a "matter of fact" kind of way, I'd say he just wants to be friends again. But if he said in a giddy kind of excited way with a slick smile on his face, he wants to hang out with you and try to get closer in a more romantic way. Pay close attention to his body language, facial expressions, and tone in his voice.
Dudes can't help but talk and act differently around women we want.
That's the best I got from what I know about your situation

[Asker]

He said it on social media, with a wink.

[Opinion Owner]

Oh man. There goes that advice lol.
Me personally, I don't send winks to girls I'm not into. Flirtatious emojis are reserved for girls I want to make feel sexy, but I don't know this guy from Adam. He could send winks to his guy friends for all I know lol

The dude below me is right, you might just have to go shopping with him and see how it goes. Then you can use what I said before

[Asker]

Well, he used to flirt with me. His parents had a nasty divorce which made him fear intimacy and relationships, so he kept rejecting me when we were friends and I asked him out and he sabotaged it and rejected intimacy (both kissing and sex). He was nasty about it. So I said I loved him but it wouldn’t work out, so he pursued me for a year and I ignored him until we came across each other on here.

[Asker]

I have Asperger’s so I don’t understand what he means. Or maybe it’s not clear. I don’t know.

[Opinion Owner]

Oh! Well that's an interesting twist lol.
He better hope he's got his shit figured out by now if he plans on having another chance with you

[Asker]

It sounds like the plot of a bad movie. Which was why I ignored him for so long.

[Asker]

What does he want?

[Opinion Owner]

First of all, if you have Aspergers that's awesome, and he better not be messing with your heart again. If I had to give you a straight answer, I would say he wants to hang out with you and see how it goes. If he had interest in you in the past, he probably still does.
Just don't let this guy run you around again. If he wants intimacy, he better be ready to give what you deserve or take a hike.

[Jamie05rhs]

Just go meet with him and you'll find out.

Even if you don't want to date him, you still will have fulfilled your goal of catching up with your friend. So you can't really lose!

[Mayo503]

First one is friends ….
Second is romantic…..