<human>: Give me the gist of the text in a nutshell

So there's this guy I'm really close to even though I've only known him for a little over a year. I really like him, but I don't know how to romantically approach guys or anything like that. I can always tell when my other friends are crushing / being hit on but I can never do so for myself.

He tends to initiate the daily texts even when he's on holiday or with his friends, cheers me up when I'm feeling down, encourages me to be my best, etc. He buys me a lot of stuff when he sees something that reminds him of me, and I do the same as well. 

I am aware that we have a significant age gap and I know I'm far from mature but we're both on similar wavelengths when it comes to our lifestyles, ideals, etc. We hang out together and sometimes with his friends (and members of his family) too. Every time we're together he always makes me laugh and we tease each other a lot. And I realize from time to time that he likes to rest his knee against mine, even though he has a lot of chair space to himself.

He sometimes would tell me about girls who hit on him and he's not interested. He's confided in me about his past relationships and warned me of guys I should watch out for. Occasionally he says that he and his bros should help me find a guy. And our interactions are strange. He'd hug all his friends (girls and guys) and I'd do the same, but we don't do that to each other. It's never been our thing, and we always have an awkward wave at the end of the night. And one day one of his friends said she couldn't see him without me by his side and I freaked. 

Because of the hot/cold vibes I can't tell if he likes me or not. And telling him feels like such a risk because I might destroy an amazing friendship. And I've never confessed to a guy before, so I'll probably shit myself doing that and be a blubbering mess :/ I'm not a flirty person, so it'll probably be like dropping a bomb on him too.
<bot>: I crushed on someone for the first time in my life (on an older person too!) and it sucks because I don't know what to do. Leave it or go for it?