Friendship wanting to be a relationship

Hi all :) I need some advice please.

I met this guy on a dating app and we met up once and got talking and ended up having a little kiss and cuddle but nothing else. We continued talking after this and met up the following week when he came to stay overnight at mine and it was almost like a date as we went out to dinner and he paid. And when we got back, stuff happened between us and since then I've really liked this guy and he has told me that he likes me and wants to be with me in a relationship, etc. but the only problem is, he lives in another country which is an hour flight away. So he said he didn't want a long distance relationship and to maybe be friends until a better time comes in both of our lives (as we're both in university) but I don't really want that, but if I tell him then I could lose him altogether.

Any advice on what I could do to maybe switch off my feelings when I talk to him, but not lose them so that the friendship overtakes the desire to become a relationship. I really want to be his girlfriend in the future, and think that if we become too close as friends then this might change and never happen. I feel like I've known him my whole life and we have this connection that I've never felt before. I even think I'm starting to fall for him slightly.

Frankly, I think you're seeking the impossible. If you can pull back sufficiently to not have feelings for him, they may not start up again. And both of you will probably end up finding others.

Seriously, do you really want to be his friend and watch him dating others after having gone back home?

Basil has it right. There is no easy solution here, so I'd just let this one go and try to find someone more local. Don't commit to something impossible when someone possible is probably just around the corner.

You're in University. Don't get yourself involved with ANYONE right now. Get your career in place and its settled where you'll be spending the rest of your life before you go ahead and commit your heart to anyone.

You hardly know this guy so it shouldn't be very hard for you to just tell him that you're ending things because the timing is obviously not right and its impossible to nurture anything serious with someone who is not living close enough with to continue.