He went quiet after you asked to hang out: what it means

Look at what he said before the ask. A "maybe" or "ha yeah" is a soft yes that needs a concrete push, and a lot of people never give it one. If he was sending long, warm replies and asking follow-up questions, the quiet after a plan is more likely logistics or nerves. If his replies were already short and he never asked you anything, the silence is just the same pattern continuing. The ask only made it visible.

Notice whether he came back on his own time. Someone who replies to the hangout question at 11pm after a gap is different from someone who never returns to it at all. The first is a planning problem. The second needs a different read.

Also check whether the plan was specific enough to decide on. "Sometime this week" gives a busy person nothing to say yes to, so silence is the easy default. A named day, a named place and a rough time give him something to accept or decline in five seconds.

The follow-up has three jobs. It makes the plan concrete enough that a yes costs him nothing to type. It leaves a clear, easy way to say no, so silence stops being his only exit. And it lets him be busy without you taking that as a rejection.

One way to do this is to offer two specific options with different days or times, so he picks one instead of deciding whether to meet at all. Another is to give him an out in the same breath, keeping the tone light enough that a no doesn't sting. You're not begging him to commit. You're making the decision small.

Keep the message short and don't mention the silence. If you say "hey, haven't heard back," he has to justify the gap. If you just move the plan forward with a specific option, he has an easy path back into the conversation.

Give him at least a day before you follow up, and longer if you have a specific date coming up. People often answer plans within a day or two, and a faster follow-up reads as anxious even when it isn't. Send in daylight, not late at night. A late message looks like you're reaching for him.

If the first follow-up gets nothing, wait another two or three days and send one more short message with the same easy shape. Then stop. Two unanswered attempts to set a plan is a clear enough answer for most situations. A third message usually turns you into the person chasing instead of someone with a life of their own.

If he replies with a clear no, a "not this week," or a suggestion for later, take it at face value and keep the door open once. If he replies after a long gap with something warm but vague, it's worth one concrete plan before you decide. If he doesn't reply at all after the second message, let it go and put your attention on someone who matches your energy.