I have been dating my BF for 3 months and 99% of the time things are WONDERFUL! I’ve never loved someone the way I love him...

So I know in any relationship there sometimes are challenges... He is divorced... and has only been in 2 relationships his entire life (he is almost 40). One relationship was 18 years... the other was 1 Year. Both of these relationships were toxic and volatile. Examples... his ex would threaten to kill herself all the time... They would kick him out of the house... yell at him... punch him... one of them even broke a door in his house. I give this background to clarify that he has never truly been loved and because of these relationships... he sometimes gets very sensitive..

Fast forward to now with me and that 1% not so good times... Maybe about once every two weeks he has a down day where he takes something I said and misinterprets it as it reminds him like something one of his exes stated. I sometimes joke around and I try to be sensitive to his sensitivity but there is never malice in what I state. For example - he might say I love you... and with a smile on my face I might ask “do you?” He then shuts down and doesn’t want to talk for 2 hours. He never has said anything hurtful to me now have we ever yelled at each other... but it’s a put shut down... In those moments - I become very sad and cry my eyes out (as again - there was not hatred in what I said)... I try to tell him this... and how much I love him... but it is like he is gone. When he snaps too... he then apologizes.. gives me a hug... and we talk it through...

The advice I need though is I am not sure what to do... Whenever this happens I feel so hopeless and helpless... I know it is going to happen again... I am not sure how to make him believe truly how much I care about him... It hurts me to see him like that... and it kills me to think that maybe one of these days he is going to not snap back. Again... these mood changes are related to being triggered about his past relationships... I am not sure what to do...