cancer man and leo woman- long distance

I met him over a year ago. I was going to visit my friend out of state, I was considering moving down there with her, so she was trying to "hook me up" with a coworker. We talked for about a month before I came to visit-meet him. Lets just say I fell for this guy. I have never had such a good connection so soon with someone. We continued to talk everyday for quite a long time after I came back (i did not end up moving down there) Over time he ended up trying to make things work with his ex then I ended up dating a guy. Needless to say it didnt work out for either of us. Here we are still talking! Here I am still hung up on him over a year later. I even was comparing my relationship to him in the back of my mind honestly. There was no comparison with the connection I had with cancer man. We trust each other (both of us have bad trust issues) we can talk to each other about anything, we laugh and joke alot, respect one another, i just completely adore his personality.

So, the other night he was drunk texting me... and ended up saying he loved me. I said it back but the next day he messaged me and asked what I thought when he told me that. I told him I wondered if he had meant it since he was drunk and asked what he thought of my reply. He told me that he did in fact mean it and he was also wondering if I had meant it as well or if i was just saying it because he did. I reassured him that I did in fact mean it as well. He did not really go into further conversation with it... accept mentioning he told his best friend that he told me he loved me lol. So... where does it go from here? We live so far away from one another. Yet I am crazy about him and I honestly have never been so sure of someone ever, never felt this way about someone its different. I would pretty much do anything to be with him. Now, I do not want to tell him all that and come off too strong I do not want to scare him off I know how he is with that sort of thing(cancers in general) also right before this conversation he had mentioned his ex and saying how he does not want anything to do with her etc...

I have read that you either need to be forward and go for it with a cancer or be patient and wait for them to come to you.

I honestly feel as if we both a scared to pour our hearts out to one another.

So do i give him time or do i just go for it and see what happens?

I was thinking of visiting when I have time or seeing if he would come visit me.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you