Help why did he say this to me

[mittymittens]

context: we met when we were 8 , he has been liking me romantically since then we are 18 now

over the latest summer we were talking and i assume randomly or maybe i was talking about some crush i had then or i brought up the fact he liked me (?) and he says "i don't know what i saw in you back then"
he also liked another girl at the time he said this
(i don't want to check because honestly i like the guy now a lot and i don't want to hurt myself)

but in november i remember i asked him if he still liked me which in response he said yes and when i asked him to date he paused for 2-3 seconds and he honestly looked kinda sad (?)

(he tells everyone, my friends and including me he refuses to date anyone as he's going to the military this summer , he even refused to date a girl he liked this year because of it)

i ended up interrupting him and taking it back because the silence was killing me and i don't know why he looked kinda sad and it made me nervous

now in recent days i see him looking at me quite frequently, i reciprocate sometimes because obviously i like him

so if he said he liked me and then now is looking at me a lot then why did he say that

 

[Labyrinth]

I'll give you the straight explanation: you two are not the same person you were years ago. Maybe he refused and created pretexts just to not disappoint you? Only you can know this. The look can transmit many subliminal messages, but if the subject is not self-aware of their intentions then it is not valid. If you are in doubt, gently ask for clarification. I advise you not to reduce answers to merely "yes or no", a little ambiguity can make communication more accurate.

Immature people act incongruously without sticking to a purpose.