Is he my invisible string??👀

I don’t even know where to start!! So I have a crush on one of my friends who lives literally on the opposite side of the country. He and I used to work together when we were younger, and we also found out we used to live 2 doors down from one another for about 2 years when we were growing up. He is the sweetest guy ever, and we catch up over social media every so often. Well a few weeks ago we talked on and off for a few days- the convo just flowed and we kept building off of it. At some points I felt like he was flirting with me in a way. I honestly just want to be best friends with this guy and get to know everything about him. I love talking to him and we have SO much in common. I’m a firm believer in building relationships off of friendships, so I definently wouldn’t be trying to date this guy right away. I don’t even know if this makes sense, I can’t even make sense of how or why I feel so strongly for him. His birthday is coming up next week, however when our last convo ended he just hearted my message and didn’t reply back.

What do I do from here? Has anyone been through a similar situation with a friend, I am so lost right now!! He’s on my mind CONSTANTLY and it’s driving me up the walls because I feel so stagnant because obviously he doesn’t know how I feel about him😭