Last spring, an acquaintance from the Newman Center texted me out of the blue. He did not ask me out, but indicated interest. I politely indicated I was not interested. We wound up in the same friend group over the summer and became friends.
In the fall, he informed me he was going to apply to seminary. As such, I felt it was appropriate to spend more time in his friend group when I was invited to things. Discerning the priesthood meant that he was not open to dating anyone, including me. We became good friends, and I soon became integrated into the friend group as a regular (movie nights, going to bars, playing cards, etc).
Anyway, I ended up having a conversation with him a couple months later to confirm that he only saw me as a friend. I did this because I noticed that he would wait beside me after mass even when I was talking to someone else. He confirmed he saw me platonically. A month or so after that, he asked me to go to a Newman dance with him. I said yes because he asked me casually in front of a couple friends, and he said he was going to seminary. I called him the next day to confirm it was platonic, and he did just that.
Another three months passed (April), and he tells me he is no longer even applying to seminary. The alarms started to go off in my brain. He asked to hang out 3-4 times that week, and each time I declined even when I did not have plans. He then asked to speak to me privately and very strangely asked if he was "still barking up the wrong tree." I then explained that I still only see him as a friend, and that I would give him space but would try to set up another group event in a couple weeks if that was okay with him. He took it well, and I thought everything was fine.
I have since graduated and came to visit some college friends. I asked if he would like to grab coffee after mass. I invited another friend as well, but he was unavailable. Anyway, he was super weird and wouldn't make eye contact during coffee.
I de-activated my instagram but logged back in last night. I read DMs from him claiming that I had led him on for attention to fuel my ego. He gave several examples of how I "pushed the boundaries of friendship," but omitted certain details to strengthen his narrative. I also have encouraged him to pursue women he has indicated interest in. I apologized for having hurt him, but I explained that he needed to accept some hard facts. I corrected his omissions and very bluntly told him he should not have told me he wanted to be a priest and confirm he saw me platonically if those things were not true. While I was not perfect, I believe I did my due diligence to protect his feelings, and I suggested that he take more ownership of his mistakes.
He apologized and said that I was right. He said he knew his immaturity was damaging to our friendship, but he wanted to be better and still be friends. He is older than I am, but still in college. I have moved since graduating this spring, so letting go of the friendship is easier. I value his friendship and good-humor, but I am not sure if he can let it go since this appears to be a repeat conversation. I also did not appreciate being made out to be an attention whore--he said that he was "tricked into falling for me." Although I have forgiven him for that particular statement, I am fearful that he will continue to try to make me feel guilty moving forward. I would also like to get together with our friends in the future, but I also understand that it might not be in his best interest. What are your thoughts?