In love with my best friend.

[RalphSchuyler]

I'll keep this as short as I possibly can. From the beginning:

 

 

I met this amazing girl about 5 years ago. We'll call her D. Over the course of the first year I knew her, we became pretty close friends, I got her to join a volunteer organization I was at, and we spend a good amount of time together. Close to the end of the first year, my organization had a banquet. I asked her to dance with me, and we did (which I had never done before in my life). From the moment I first saw her at that banquet, I knew I had fallen for her.

 

Over the next couple months we continued to hang out as friends and became even closer. By now, it was apparent that I was into her. Then, she found out she didn't get into the school she wanted to (close to home) and would have to leave in a few months for a school 5 hours away. It hurt, but I decided I would make the best of it. We became best friends over that summer, hanging out, partying, and occasionaly flirting with eachother. Just before she went away, I bought her a very special ring called a "forget-me-knot" ring. Kind of something for her to remember me by.

 

She went off to school. And, in the first few months of being there, found a boyfriend. I thought it would just be a fling, boy was I wrong. Anyway, we continued to be good friends, text messaging back and forth, some days we would talk all day, some days we would barely say hi.

 

Eventually, my friends became concerned for me, and decided to hook me up with someone. We'll call her K. K and D were always very nice to eachother. Well, at least to their faces. In reality, neither one liked the other. After time, most of my friends ended up not liking K.

 

After almost 2 years of dating K, being in a relationship I wasn't happy with, I broke up with her. This happened at the beginning of this summer. For a few days I was pretty upset about the whole thing, and D was right next to me the whole time, helping me through a short rough patch. I got over it pretty quickly, realizing that the whole time I was with K, I had still been completely head over heels in love with D. Well, not even a week after I broke up with her, D broke it off with her boyfriend of 2 years. She took it very hard, and I tried my best to be a good friend to her. I sat with her, cried with her, and just listened to her. But I couldn't help how I felt and she knew it.

 

It's been one or two months since all that. She seems to be doing a lot better now, although she still has a difficult time with lonliness. We've been spending time together and just enjoying the summer. One night we were just sitting around when someone made the comment to her, "Oh, I love your ring!" Turns out she still wears the ring I gave her almost 3 years ago, which made me smile.

 

She just returned from a family vacation, and she has 18 days left before she has to go back to school. While she was out on vacation, I got a crazy idea. I was thinking about asking her on a date. I asked around in the group of friends she and I share, and for the first time ever, everyone thinks it's a good idea. But, I'm not so sure.

 

I'm afraid if I don't try, I'll never know. I don't want to lose what could be simply because I'm too afraid to ask. But on the other hand, I love every minute of time I spend with her and I definitely don't want to lose her as a friend.

 

Thank you for reading all this. Any help would be appreciated!

[Ayla]

I am a romantic at heart - and I love this story...however given that she has just broken up with her boyfriend, I would be worried that it might be too soon. I'm not saying that she is not interested in you, but more that she might not be ready yet.

 

Would it be better to have a a chat with her to see if it is a possibility in the future? Before just asking her out on a date...?

 

I am a true believer that the best relationships are bred from friendships, and this may have all the right ingredients. I guess you know better than anyone if the chemistry and feelings are there.