What to do if he only texts after I text him first for weeks

Count who started the last five conversations. If you started most of them, you already have your answer. The real question is whether you want someone who replies well but never starts things. Look at what his replies contain. Warm, specific replies that mention something you said suggest he enjoys talking to you and just forgets to reach out. Short replies with no question back suggest he treats the thread as optional.

Look at the gaps too. A silence of several weeks followed by a casual hey usually means he resurfaces when he's bored or has free time. Has he ever brought up plans himself, even vague ones like a bar he wants to try? If he hasn't once suggested anything, that tells you more than any single text does.

Answer whatever he actually wrote in a sentence or two, and skip any comment on the gap. Then offer one concrete option he can accept or turn down in a word, like a specific day and a specific place. A question like what's new with you keeps the ball in his court but gives him no structure, so it usually gets the same reply you got last time.

Keep it short and light. Don't ask two questions, don't write a paragraph about how much you want to see him, and don't mention that you were waiting. You want saying yes to feel easy, so he doesn't have a reason to sit on it for three days.

Send your follow up the day after his reply, and only if your message had a real plan in it. If he answers warmly but still doesn't propose anything, wait about a week before you write again. If you text and hear nothing back within two days, that silence is your answer for now. Stop starting conversations and let him come to you.

When you do write again, keep it light and leave the silence out of it. Stick to daytime, roughly mid morning to early evening, so it doesn't read like a late night bid for attention. If two rounds pass with no plan from him, you can drop it without sending a big farewell message.