He stopped texting back. What does it mean?

The replies got shorter, then slower, then stopped. You scroll up looking for the message that broke it. There usually isn't one. A drop in frequency is a pattern, not a single line.

01 // The three engines

The fade. Interest cooled and instead of saying so he's letting the thread starve — the conflict-avoidant exit. Effort drops across the board and never recovers.

The overwhelm freeze. Something in his life pulled his attention and his bandwidth collapsed. Not about you, often temporary, and usually accompanied by the occasional genuine flare of warmth when he surfaces.

The test. Less common, but real: he's pulled back to see whether you chase, panic, or hold steady — reading your frame by watching the gap.

The right move is the same for all three: stop filling the silence.

02 // The move

Match his investment, don't exceed it. If he sends little, send little. Do not double-text into the gap, do not send the paragraph, do not manufacture a reason to re-engage. Filling the silence on your own does two damaging things: it removes any cost to his absence, and it tells him your steadiness is his to switch on and off.

Held flat, the gap becomes diagnostic. The fade stays faded — answer received. The overwhelm resurfaces and re-invests once life loosens. The test resolves when he learns the gap buys him nothing. You don't have to diagnose it in the moment; you have to stop subsidizing it.