What does it mean?

So my ex (who I have been in love with since I broke up with him, for reason’s explained in other ques.’s.) and I were in the counseling room at school. We sitting right next to each other and we were talking the entire tutorial eye to eye, GREAT conversation, laughing and smiling. He knows that I still like him, and dearly care for him. and we just talked for like 45 minutes it felt like it was just the 2 of us, sitting there alone, smiling and laughing with each other. then we stopped for a second and everyone was looking at us in the room… I didn’t care of course, and he just smiled, his gorgeous dimples showing and everyone else gave us that look, you know the look… :)

Does he like me still? What is the next step to being closer to him. I don’t have to be in a relationship with him. But I do have to be his friend and I want the bond between us before we even think about going into a relationship. HOW DO I DO THAT/GET THAT?