I (F 24) been dating a guy (M 26) and I want to break things off because he's going too fast. Am I overreacting for thinking it's a red flag?

I've (F 24) met a guy (M 26) through a mutual friend in mid-December who introduced us. I only knew him by sight, but never actually talked to him before.

We began chatting through text messages and occasional phone calls. On the first one we did, he asked me if I was interested in something other than a friendship, which I said I needed to get to know him better first. He agreed.

He told me he was intense. Context: we still didn't have a first date yet, I mean, an in-person date.

As we began talking through the phone more often, he began naturally opening up. He once opened up about an experience that was uncomfortable for him, and I told him it was fine if he didn't want to tell me (it wasn't anything really big, but I respect his boundaries).

Next day, I received a long paragraph of him telling me he was sorry he couldn't tell me, that he was worried that he had "ruined everything with me".

I told him everything was OK, no worries, that I understood.

After everytime we talked (even chatting) he told me several times he was worried of "messing everything up with me", that he felt strong things for me, that he wanted to take this seriously.

Even said he dropped all the people he was talking to. He is often explaining himself over random stuff.

Yesterday he told me he wanted to call me and I wasn't really in the best mood. I told him this, and he got upset.

Didn't like that and said to him I wouldn't be always available, and that I would appreciate if he would respect this. He apologized and told me "this is never going to happen again". Then, he wrote me a paragraph about how worried he is he had messed things up with me and that I wouldn't like to date him again.

And tweeted "I'm worried to lose what we have".

I said that I wasn't sure of us because I didn't know him enough and I wasn't on the same wavelength as him. He begged me for "another chance with me" several times that day and I said OK some days ago.

But honestly I don't want to keep dating him even though he isn't a bad guy, but I don't know how to cut it, since he's head over heels and I don't want to hurt him. He's a little immature for his age, and doesn't have much of an interest for his future.

I don't know. This whole thing irks me the wrong way and I'm unsure if it's just me or if this is a massive red flag. I think I need advice on how to break things up in the most empathetic way. We didn't even have a proper date, but I don't feel like dating him honestly.

tl;dr: Guy I've met a month ago and we didn't even have a proper in person date (only phone calls) is going too fast too soon and I want to break things off. Thing is, I don't know how and I don't want to hurt him.

Submitted February 23, 2021 at 02:26PM by throwaway_compdoubt https://ift.tt/2NQNBRD