Can someone help me understand what he feels for me?

Anonymous
I have this shy guy friend. Nowadays we live far away due to studies. We text occationally and he has said that he misses me, that we should hang out more and once he sent a ❤. Those are very rare things coming from him.

Last weekend I was in his town and spent most of the time with him. First night we hung out at his place just talking. Then we had dinner out. At dinner he asked why it ended with my ex who he never seemed to like and after that he told me he had given up on finding a girlfriend and that he has never had romantic feelings for anyone. He also said he has trust issues and trusts nobody. When we talked about the time we got to know each other he said ”somehow you captured me.”

After this he brought me to meet his friends for drinks. Before saying goodbye he kinda tickled my waist and we shared a long hug.

We decided to meet the next evening as well and after hanging out at his place for hours I told him I have feelings for him. He got nervous and said "I dont know what to say" and then he said he enjoys my company, that I'm easy to talk to, that I'm beautiful and funny but that he "didn't feel more than that but had been thinking about it." Later he walked me to the bus and I said he didn't have to wait with me. He replied ”I’m happy to.”

On my way to the hotel he texted me it was really nice seeing me. The next day he texted me to ask of my flight home went ok. It’s not really like him to text like that.

Now I found out from his best friend he has been talking to him about me and our talk. He also took a screenshot of a selfie I had posted.

Why does he act like this if he doesn't like me? What does he feel for me?
Can someone help me understand what he feels for me?
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