Is he for real or just playing?

i have been friends with this guy for while, i hadn't seen him four about a year, we live some distance apart. Kept in contact every now and then on fb. I ran into him a couple of weeks ago, we were getting along just like old times. he started sending me kinda flirtatious messages on fb out of nowhere calling me by pet names, caught me off guard but i did reciprocate a little cause i've always kinda had a crush on him, but i'm not sure if he is joking around or if he is actually for real, Last time he sent me a messages was like a week ago, what do i do?