best friend issue :(

okay here is my story:

in around January of this year, one of my guy best friends of literally 3 years told me he liked me. and that was around when i got out of a relationship i wasn't happy in, and he would always make me feel better. after that, it took me a few weeks to get over the relationship even though i sorta wasn't yet. so we started talking a bit, yknow, flirting a bit with one another. we see each other at school and we were always talking and he was always telling jokes to me to make me laugh. as a month in on talking was happening, he asked what we were and asked if we should just be a thing. now i really liked talking to him all the time, but even after the break up, the guy i broke up with was always texted me 24/7 and it hurt seeing him text me so many negative things. so i told my best friend that maybe i needed a bit more time, and he said he understood.

months has passed since he asked me that, and we haven't talked as much as we used to, but he would still flirt around with me while either texting or in person at school. i guess as time went on, my feelings for him grew and grew. and then we stopped talking completely.

I didn't know what i did wrong, but he would start showing mixed emotions when he was around his other friends that i didn't hang out with. i have been planning on telling him my feelings since at least late February early March. Since we didn't talk as much, i thought maybe he didn't like me anymore since it's been a while, so i kept it to myself ever since.

i feel terrible for making him wait for so long, and I had many opportunities to tell him, but the thought of him no longer having feelings for me hurt my heart, so i never told him. i still have the message and letter i wrote for him and i cry about every now and then.

All of the sudden, today actually, i overheard him saying how he might like another girl he met at his summer job, and i don't know how to feel about it.

I know it's my fault for never telling him my feelings, and now that he probably likes someone else, it hurts even more.

So here i am, asking the community what to do with my situation. should i tell him how i really feel? or should i just ignore my feelings? they are not a couple, they are just talking i believe.

i really like him, and it took me too long to realize, and now i think im too late. but i don't wanna lose hope just yet.

Help me please !! i am so lost in my situation !!

I just need some advice!! the people i ask for advice never really tell me what i should do. they just listen and nod. i need real help.