Help me please!

There was this boy I had crush on for ages, I knew him but I don't know think he knew me because we lived in different cities. But sometimes I would be invited to a party in the city he lived so I saw him but I don't think he saw me. Once we were invited to his cousin, that's the place he saw. We said hi to each other and that was all but every time I saw him he was looking at me. I couldn't tell if he was confused, lost or shocked to see me. After 3 months his cousin send me request on Facebook then after a few days he did so I accepted it and I thought he would message me but he didn't and when he send me request on Facebook I had a feeling that he has crush on me. Because he is not them type of guys that would send Facebook request to anyone. I really want to find out if he has crush on me but I don't know how? Do you think is it the right time if I message him? And start chatting with him? I had a rough love time in 2016, there was a lot of rumours about me and I'm scared if the same thing happen this year. So please help me.