The first "I love you"

[nyfan1992]

I met my girlfriend over the summer and had been seeing each other exclusively for a few months. After taking the time to get to know each other well, we became an official couple in late December. Things could not be going any better than I expected. She is truly an incredible person, I have my most fun when I'm with her, we have so much in common, and I truly feel like she is my best friend.

 

I am well aware of the "honeymoon phase". I dated several girls over the past few years and admittedly got sucked into the honeymoon phase with my first girlfriend. After that experience, I learned from it and was much more aware of the flaws in my following partners in the early months of dating. For this reason, I believe I am not being blinded by my new relationship.

 

Her and I have the same interests and thoughts on issues/topics/hobbies/etc. She is the first girlfriend of mine that my friends have liked. Many of my friends have told me that they really like her and believe I have done well for myself. When I'm with her, I truly feel like I can be myself and she always makes me feel confident in myself. I am a realist and am sure issues will come up in the future, but as of now we have not had a single fight. She hates drama and is very easygoing, just like me. Everything is just simple and fun. Not as important but a very nice bonus, she is the most attractive girl I have been with. I am sure as we date longer I will find certain flaws with her, but for now she is the complete package.

 

She is in her final semester of college and I visited her this past weekend. We had a great time together and during my stay we had some serious discussions about our relationship. We talked deeply about how much we care about each other and how we feel like we are each other's best friends. We also talked about our optimism for the future and how important we are to one another. We have never said "I love you" yet, but it seemed imminent during these conversations. There was one moment when I really wanted to say it, but we haven't been dating long and I didn't want to rush anything.

 

I know that I love her. I have dated several women, some in serious relationships, and the way I feel about her is beyond how I ever felt about any of them. I do truly believe I have met my perfect match. I often find myself thinking of how lucky I am to be with her. In my opinion, love has no time quota. When you know, you know.

 

I haven't said it yet for a few reasons. First, like I said before, we are newly dating and saying "I love you" is very serious and will put our relationship to a whole new level. Our relationship has been fun and easygoing, which makes it much easier to grow closer together. I'm afraid that if I say "I love you", the fun and innocence of our new relationship will be lessened a bit. Second, I have been told and seen from my own experiences that women take longer to trust and fall in love than men do. My girlfriend has often told me how she feels about me, making it clear we are on the same page. While she may feel love for me as I do for her, I'm afraid if I say it first she won't feel like she had the time to know that for certain. I don't want her to feel rushed or thrown into anything. Piggybacking off of that, I have been told that the woman should say "I love you first."

 

I am not one to hide my feelings or play games. If I feel a certain way about someone or something, I just say it. But she is so important to me and I don't want to jeopardize the special relationship we have together. Should I say it first or wait for her to say it?