This guy sounds like he is pushing your buttons to play a codependent role with him where he can feel he has all the control. The fact that you told him you need more space and he responded to that with going downhill emotionally, that's a red flag that you need to pay attention to. I don't care for how he also used this "well someone else wants to date me" like if you don't allow him to control the relationship you will lose him. Just because other people around you liked him doesn't mean you should give in when he asks you to either. A lot of people that ended up being badly abused had family and friends that were shocked because they thought the guy was a nice guy. So paying attention to the red flags that come up is important.