My boyfriend and I have been together for 6 months now (well, it'll be 6 months this Monday haha), and I've never been happier in my life. Since meeting him, my life has become so much fuller; I've tried new activities I never thought I'd try before, I've pushed myself to do things that scared me, and he's helped me love myself, all with his help and support. He's made me feel so special and I feel that he's just the person I've been waiting for. Because of all these things, I fell for him pretty hard and fast, and I told him about 1.5 months into our relationship that I thought I was in love with him. His face lit up and he was so happy when I told him that. He said he wasn't quite ready to say it back yet, but was looking forward to getting to know me more and to spend more time together so that eventually we'd be at the same place. This was fine with me, because I said it without any expectations that he would say it back, and in all honesty I felt like I was going to burst if I didn't tell him! At first I worried that I said it to him too early, but since then, I've fallen more in love with him which makes me stand by what I said. I've made sure to never say it to him again because I want him to say it when he truly feels it and is ready to tell me.

He and I both have different love languages - his is Quality Time/Acts of Service, and mine is Words of Affirmation. I've repeatedly seen through his actions that he truly cares for me (he'll fill up my car with gas, he'll pack me breakfast, lunch, and snacks for work after staying at his place over the weekend, the list really goes on), and when I'm with him I feel so well taken care of. I've also tried to match his language by doing things for him in return, like wash dishes, offer to proofread his papers for school, etc. But lately it's been bothering me that I haven't gotten a verbal acknowledgment from him of what I mean to him. I feel it the most when we're not physically together. For context, we live 1.5 hours apart and our time together now is mainly limited to just weekends, so I understand if he's still not ready to say it yet. I've told him before how I'm a really sensitive and analytic person who constantly doubts and picks at myself, and I do need reassurance a lot of the time. And he has told me before how he's not always the best with words. I guess what I'm looking for is to feel more secure in our relationship about where I stand with him, and I don't need that to be written in a sonnet; I just want to hear something come from his heart. He doesn't even have to tell me that he loves me back, just something in words to calm my doubts here. I look back at the beginnings of our relationship and how I felt so much more secure and how he was more verbal with telling me that he was happy to have me, and I wish I felt the same way now.

I've refrained from bringing this up with him and have tried my best to be patient and just wait for the moment he feels ready to tell me he loves me. But since it's been bothering me so much (to the point where I sometimes doubt if he even feels happy to have me), I know I need to bring this up with him so that we can be on equal footing and I can get what I feel I need. Again, it's not so much that I want to hear an 'I love you' (although nothing would make me happier); I just want to hear something in words about what I mean to him because I feel like I haven't gotten that in a while. And since we've been together for half a year already, I want to make sure that I'm with someone who wants to be with me without any reservations.

I've thought about the ways I'd go about this, and I think it'd be best to focus more on talking about what I need to feel valued, rather than ways that he is falling short and not giving me what I need. I wanted to ask if there are any other recommendations on the best way to kindly bring this up to him, while at the same time getting my point across. I'll be spending this weekend with him and I thought it'd probably be a good time to broach the subject.

Thank you so much to anyone who's read this and is willing to provide any advice!