He texts you every few weeks.
Sometimes late at night.
Sometimes just "I miss you" or "how are you."
He has a girlfriend.
He never mentions leaving her.
He never asks to meet.
You keep waiting for the text that finally explains itself.
It never comes.
The pattern is already telling you something.
Stop reading each message alone.
Look at the shape they make together.
Three Texts a Month Is Not an Accident
He does not text every day.
He does not text never.
He lands somewhere in between, often at night, when his girlfriend is not around.
That spacing is not random.
A single out of the blue text could be guilt, a bad night, one drink too many.
A pattern repeated for eight months is a habit.
Habits take maintenance.
He is maintaining something, on his terms, at a pace that costs him almost nothing.
If his girlfriend ever finds out and confronts him, that is his mess.
It is not proof of what he actually feels for you.
What the Text Actually Costs Him
Compare what he risks to what you risk.
He sends four words at midnight and goes back to his life.
You reread those four words for three days straight.
He can delete the thread and forget it by morning.
You cannot delete eight months of wondering that easily.
A message that costs him nothing and costs you hours of analysis is not a fair trade.
It looks more like a habit that happens to include you.
That does not make him cruel.
He is getting comfort, familiarity, and a small ego boost.
He is paying nothing for any of it.
Why the Direct Question Got a Non-Answer
You already tried asking him straight out what he wants.
He said he did not know, that he was not thinking clearly.
That answer is not a mystery for you to keep solving.
It is the safest thing he could possibly say.
A real answer would cost him something.
"I want you back" commits him to leaving the relationship he is in.
"I don't, please stop" closes a door he likes keeping open.
"I don't know" costs nothing and keeps both doors open at once.
That is why the vague answer keeps returning instead of a clear one.
The Rebound Question Is a Distraction
Part of you wants to know if his new relationship is a rebound.
You cannot know that from outside it.
No one reading your texts can either.
Even if it is a rebound, that does not answer what he wants from you tonight.
Even if it ends next year, that does not undo the eight months you already spent waiting.
Whether he replaced you quickly or slowly is his story to carry, not yours.
Your healing does not need to wait for the ending of his relationship.
If a text lands on a night you finally felt fine, that does not mean something is wrong with you.
It means the contact still has a job to do, until you decide it doesn't.
What a Real Answer Actually Looks Like
A real answer is not a text.
It is him ending the other relationship before he reaches for you.
Not after you get caught in the middle.
It is him asking to meet in daylight, with an actual plan.
Not "how are you" at midnight.
It is contact that survives even when you stop answering warmly.
Try telling him not to contact you unless he is single.
If the texts stop for good, that tells you something too.
It means the contact needed your reply to survive.
You are not closing a door by asking for that.
You are finding out if there was ever a door, or just a habit with your name attached.