Search Results: too shy to flirt

So they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and that's why I've asked this question, did the dissapointment and heartache of your life actually make you stronger and a beter person or did they emotionally break you down?

So I'll give a personal example.

When I was 16 I fell in love for the first and last time, the guy had been my friend for over two years and he stood by me through and through... he was my night in shining armour that protected me from bullies and bitches, he was my best friend that I could talk to about anything and everything and he was just amazing in every way... even though he wasn't my type i genuinely fell for him... anyways we were in grade 10 and he became a leader.. big whoop suddenky this grade 8 girl started liking him and he told me about her... since I was shy i told him to go for it... they dated for two months and then she destroyed him by running after his friends and flirting with all types of guys... .. so they broke up and he was broken and i fixed him... I was there for him... I'd answer the phone at 2 in the morning when he wanted to talk and i even joined a sporty guys... like I stage after school to do sports with him.. that's how much I loved him so then I confessed and the day I confessed was the day he got back with his ex.

That genuinely hurt me and I cried for so long... he's still one of my best friends even though I loved him..

But the way this incident affected me was that it made me too scared to fall in love again, instead of making me stronger it broke me down and because it hurt so bad i don't want to feel it again ever! I refuse to give any guy the chance to get close to me.

So for me instead of making me stronger that incident really broke me down.

So does the saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronget" actually make sense to you and your personal experiences?

I mean at the beginning he used a lot of " :) " and now he doesn't.. We met on a dating app where girls have to take initiative so I sent him a message. This was about +-1 month ago?

We talk on daily basis and it's just one long "conversation". Sometimes we just communicate by using memes / gifs and other times it's just like:
Him: "k"
Me: "ok"
Him: "kk"
Me: "k."
Because he knows I don't like it when give one word answers. He always replies and is funny, but he doesn't really flirt, he's just being playful..

But I really can't tell whether he's just being friendly, is interested in me, too shy / scared to take initiative or not, because he was on an app where girls have to start talking..

How do I find out without directly asking?