don't know his intentions

here's the thing, i've been hanging out with this guy for the past three months now. in the beginning we were just semi-regular icq buddies, later on became email buddies, coz i went away, after that we became constant regular icq and text messaging buddies. but that's as far as it goes. he never calls me to talk. but whenever we text or icq, we could chat for hours and hours sometimes. we do hang out together, we've gone to a few lunches together, movie after or ice cream. sometimes he pays, sometimes i do...we are becoming closer, and i think i'm really starting to really like him, problem is i'm not sure if he's into me at all. i would give him hints sometimes, but i don't know if gets them or he just tries to make it seem like he just didn't notice. hints such as, compliments, or how i enjoyed our lunch and movie..stuff like that. its hard to see his reaction to my compliments coz its usually on text or icq. my problem now is that i have this urge to tell him how i feel about wanting to get to know him better, for us to date. but i'm so afraid of rejection, and the fact that it might get awkward if he ends up not feeling the same way. and i don't want to lose him as a friend. another thing, if ever we do date, i will be his first GF, so i'm thinking maybe he just doesn't know what to do. i need advice on what i can subtly ask him so that i can get answers that will somehow show me if he maybe is interested. thanks!