I agree with the give him space. If you try to help too much it would get annoying and off putting if it were me. Also, we want what we can't have. I say this in the sense that when my wife is really into me sometimes it gets old/annoying and actually makes me LESS into here. When she is not into me it makes me MORE into her. This is not always the situation but I hope you understand what I am trying to say.
Bottom line: You can't really do much probably which might be hard. Just tell him to tell you what he needs when he needs it.