[Update] Me [21 F] with my friend/fwb/idk what [23 M] , I think we both want more but both of us are too shy to take the first step. Need advice on being the first to ask.

Original Post- https://www.reddit.com/r/relationshi..._m_i_think_we/
My first post didn't get much attention but I thought I'd give an update anyways.
So a few days after this post, Ben turned 24 and he essentially took me out on a date to the fanciest restaurant in our small town. He grew more...clingy? I guess that's the word I'm looking for. I didn't want to ask him on his birthday, so I gave myself a two week deadline to bring it up. At the end of the second week, I was due to go away for 4 days for a work trip. I figured if I asked by then and faced rejection, I'd have 4 days to cool down and figure out how to be okay with just friends.
So the end of the two weeks came, it was the day I was due to leave for my work trip, and I still hadn't brought it up. I know, I suck haha. Ben came over to "help me pack" and just spend time with me before I left. I made us dinner and brought up that he'd be meeting my brother when I picked him up in my hometown cause the bus station was in a bad part of downtown. Ben was surprised but not too phased. He helped me clean up and then we went to cuddle in my bed before I had to leave. While cuddling, he asked me what I've told my brother about him. I got all red in the face and said I was too embarrassed to say.
He brought up the fact that he's told his mom about me. So I said I would compromise and tell him what I said about him if he told me what he told his mom. He said that he's just told my mom what I was like and how close we are. And that his brother will talk about how much he liked meeting me to their mom. Then he said, "Yeah so like my family knows your my girlfriend." I immediately went "oh am I?" and he got all flustered and said "well I mean if you want to be. Did you want to be?"
He then explained and apologized to me for not asking sooner. Basically he was too scared to ask me because I'm graduating in May and he's still technically a junior (after graduating high school, he went to his home country for his mandatory military service and then worked a while before going to a different university and then transferring here). I'm applying for jobs in a few different countries, including his home country, but won't know where I'll end up until the spring. Ben is scared of hurting my feelings if I get a job in a different country and we break up because of it. We had a long talk about the possibilities and decided to become official anyway. I couldn't be happier, I had the biggest smile the whole rest of the night. I honestly still can't believe this goober is mine haha
Now our biggest obstacle is me telling my mom I'm dating someone older (she's not a fan of age differences, or me dating in general) and that he's visiting in December. I'm still trying to figure out how to best phrase it and discuss it with her. I'll be telling her in person probably this Friday or Saturday. Wish me luck, any advice would be welcome for that!

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tl;dr: He beat me to the punch and we became official, super super happy but nervous to tell my mom due to the age difference.


Source.