what is going on?

so this guy and me had a thing for about to years we were never really dating. it was more of a friends with benefits type of thing, but we still took the time to talk about our day or what ever was on our mind. about 5 months ago i found out he had a thing with someone else. i was immediately hurt by that. i had fallen deeply in love with him. we would talk every now and then, even hang out and stuff. we stopped talking in december but he messaged on christmas saying ‘merry christmas’ with some heart emojis. saying that he had seen a picture of me and he thought i looked gorgeous. we went on to hang out a couple days after new years. last week for my birthday he gave me a pair of shoes ($100). keep in mind all this is going on while he has a thing with that other girl. i just want to know what all this means. what is going on?