My Boyfriend Ghosted Twice, Blamed His Ex Still Won’t Apologize

I moved abroad for my studies in 2023. The following year, I met this guy on a dating website.

We had an instant connection and started dating right away. We used to talk all day, from morning till night, sharing all the details of our lives. It felt completely magical-except for one catch. We had occasional conflicts or disagreements, which escalated when I snapped at him (mostly because I was having a bad day, was super tired, or simply not in the mood to handle conflicts or differences). This didn’t happen frequently, maybe once or twice a month. Otherwise, I consider myself a very sensitive person and usually interact with everyone politely.

After this happened two or three times, he suddenly ghosted me. Two days later, I texted him, asking if everything was alright between us. We then had an intense conversation, and he told me that every time we had disagreements, it reminded him of his ex, who always fought with him and apparently didn’t treat him right. So these conflicts hurt him more deeply than I had realized. When I saw that my actions had affected him so much, I apologized profusely and promised to change and try not to snap at him.

I really worked on myself, and every time I felt like snapping, I controlled myself and took a moment to process my emotions before responding. He even appreciated my efforts. For the next two months, I was successful in doing so, and things seemed to be going well. In the meantime, we were both facing challenges in our professional lives.

One day, I had an incredibly bad day. I arrived home late, super hungry, and exhausted, with no food prepared for dinner. Like every day, he texted me after his dinner and started teasing me casually. Because of my mood, I snapped at him again. He got angry. I then told him I had a really bad day and hadn’t had time to prepare dinner. But he was still upset, which made me angry too, as I expected him to be more understanding. Instead, we said good night without resolving the conflict. The next day, he ghosted me again. I also didn’t text him for several days, as I was dealing with issues in my professional life.

Ten days later, after resolving my work issues, I texted him asking if everything was alright. He then sent me a letter saying that he had feelings for me, but his behavior might be influenced by his ex’s treatment of him. So, he wanted to take a general break from dating to process both experiences. I responded, saying that I fully understand and support him, but I wouldn’t prefer to wait for him, as it wouldn’t be practical considering my age and the fact that I was hurt in this process too.

Six months later, he hasn’t reached out to me even once. However, I can’t stop thinking about him. It still hurts me that he didn’t apologize for ghosting me, talk to me about everything, or even end things properly if he didn’t want to be with me. I don’t know what to do now. Should I text him and ask if we still have a chance, even after he ghosted me? Should I wait for him to make the first move (which is a huge maybe)? Or should I just accept that life throws challenges at you sometimes and try to move on from this experience?

Question: What should I do?

Option 1: Text him and ask if we still have a chance

Option 2: Wait for him to make the first move

Option 3: Move on and try to forget the experience