My boyfriend has been a bit distant all week, not messaging as much. I was getting really anxious thinking I had done something wrong or that he'd gone off me which is stupid as I know he just sometimes gets bogged down with work. I was trying to relax and was giving him space by not messaging much but then he randomly messaged me asking me if I was angry with him. I reassured him that I wasn't angry and apologised for not being in touch much. I explained I was just worried about pestering him too much. He said "ok, good. Just had this feeling you were a bit off with me xxx". He then said he'd been having a rubbish week and was getting really stressed because he had so much to do. We are supposed to be meeting up with my friends and my mum on Saturday for my birthday and it's the first time that he's meeting them. I understand it's a big step and he's got a lot going on so I said if it was going to be too much for him I'd understand if he wanted to cancel. He replied saying that it should be ok and that he wanted to see me. So we then discussed plans. I then said I might go and see Thor in the afternoon before meeting up with my friends and mum and he asked to come with me so he was basically choosing to extend the amount of time he would be spending with me. He then admitted that he's really anxious about meeting my friends and my mum and I tried to reassure him and outlined a jokey plan for the day. He said "that sounds nice xxx". He then sent me a photo of him smiling and said he wished I was there with him. Then we said goodnight.
Today I've heard nothing from him again but I've been busy and I know he's probably been busy too. So I sent him a message asking him which showing of Thor suits him best on Saturday with a photo of the times so that I could plan the rest of my day. He's read the message but not replied and I'm now panicking again. It's really unlike him to read a message and not reply. After a couple of hours I sent him another message asking if he was ok and he's not read this message. He does go to bed really early as he works ridiculous hours but he read my first message at 17:49. In fairness I haven't seen him online since then but I'm still feeling really worried.
Do you think I should be worried? I know meeting my mum and friends is a big step which is why I gave him the option to back out but he chose not to and then asked to see Thor with me too.
I just can't help but think really negatively about it because I can't see why you'd read a message and not reply? I'm not sure why I'm getting so anxious because he's always consistent and never lets me down. He will occasionally go a bit quiet but only when work gets on top of him and then he will be even more attentive afterwards. But I can't see any positive reason for reading a message, with an obvious question in it, and not reply.