<human>: So there's a little more to this than just what's said in the title... A few things you'll need to know:

I am a very, very guarded person and it has taken me two months to find the courage to tell my boyfriend that I love him. I've now done it on three occasions, very casually on each occasion and had been met with affection, though no words, the first two times.

Last night, my boyfriend asked me for a hug to which I replied, jokingly, 'ugh you're so needy,' and moved closer as we hugged, he said 'thank you' and I said 'it's because I love you.' 

Now, I know that my boyfriend has been monumentally hurt before, and we kind of fell into our relationship unofficially because none of us were really looking anything, it was all very organic and natural. I also know that he has trust issues, as he has been cheated on (several times) before.

After telling him I loved him, he held me so tightly and there was silence for a few seconds before he said 'you realise it's because I'm scared, don't you?' I just nodded into his shoulder and he brought me closer to him... We both got pretty emotional (I cried and he held back tears) but it was strange because he doesn't talk about his feelings.

I feel like it was a turning point for us and I can sympathize with him because I'm terrified of relationships and getting hurt.

Does anyone have any advice and/or experience with this kind of thing? It was such a shock for him to even reply to me I was sort of stunned into silence...

Could you distill the essence of the text into 1-3 sentences?
<bot>: Told my boyfriend I loved him, he said he was scared (in relation to saying the three words back), I now don't know what to do/how to feel.