Why do we argue over text message and chat but never face to face?

We broke up a month ago over text. He usually says things like "this isn't going to work, i give up" every time we argue about something. And for the 3 times we argued, it was never face to face, its either through text message or online chat. So finally, the third time we argued in the 5 months we have been together, I agreed with the break up.

At first I tried to convince him to meet up and talk about it because it was weird having arguments over texts and chats but never face to face. But he refused to meet, saying he wasn't ready to face me yet and that he would want to let the holidays past first. So after the holidays, I tried texting him. He would respond every time but never did I mention wanting to meet up again. After a few days, I just decided to do NO CONTACT.

After a week, he would text me randomly and initiate conversations, but I would just respond politely. I don't want to get back together again because of his bad temper and the disrespectful way he argues with me but sometimes I still think about what may have caused this kind of behavior in him.. And what is the reason why we always fight through text or chat but never face to face? Whenever we are together, everything seems so perfect. What is the psych behind this behavior?