How to deal with falling in love for your best (and straight) friend?

Its perfectly okay for you to feel this way, just as if you were straight and had a crush on your best friend of the opposite sex. Just understand the boundaries with your friend.

If you are in the situation, it's best to be upfront with them and tell them, just be careful when doing this though as it can backfire for some people. Also, if you can, do something to distract yourself or be away from the your friend until the crush feeling subsides

I have been in this situation a few times and the best ways that I found to deal with it were to end the friendship depending on how strong your feelings are or to just ride it out until you learn to cope with it. I generally went with the second option because I always valued the friendships.

I can totally relate because I am the same. I didnt tell them though because i didn’t want to ruin the relationship.

If so, I’d evaluate what sort of impact dating would have on his life. His family could be VERY aggressive towards him. His family could isolate him. His family could kick him out. You’d have to establish that if dating him would be worth it, despite the risks. If it’s not worth the risk for him, just be mutual snuggle buddies and then some If you are snuggling together, my suspicion is that your friend might not be so “straight.” Straight men don’t snuggle with other men. Maybe you should have an honest discussion. Maybe he is trying to tell you that he’s open to something other than friendship. But please, talk before you do anything physical. If he’s ambivalent, you don’t want to traumatize him. Tell him you’re just wanting to know the boundaries of your relationship and if he’d prefer you to put your feelings aside. I think it’s important to talk about it so that he is able to explore his feelings, otherwise you risk harming the friendship. Good luck!

Remember to take it slow. Remember no one has control over your feelings besides you. No one deserves that power. Remember your purpose is to get to know them, not let them know you. Remember to treat others how you want to be treated. Also remember that people need personal space. Some more than others and you need to respect that. Remember everyone has an entire life that they have lived, and do not have social anxiety, because they are a person just like you. There are many questions to ask to get to know someone. Start with what experiences have influenced them the most as of today. Also ask who they look up to.

Talk to them about it. They may be closeted and it's always best to be able to talk to your best friend, they're there to talk. They care about you.

It is hard, but try and talk about it with your friend. Most of the time you really just have to get over them. This may take a lot of time

Distract yourself by looking for relationships with others- don't dwell on it and try finding someone else to fulfil your needs.

I have somewhat experienced this, and I can only say that you should do what feels best for you. In certain cases it could be a great opportunity to grow as a person. But, try to talk to someone about it and manage to find distractions, because you must understand that a romantic relationship with this person is not going to last or perhaps not even have a happy ending (if it would even exist at all)

The best thing might be being honest with them. Make sure it’s clear that you don’t plan on acting on your feelings (if you’re sure they don’t reciprocate them), but communication is key in any relationship.

Love is such a big thing that can be over a big spectrum. Whether this is romantically or just loving a friend or a sibling. Therefore is this love for your best friend definitely romantic or is it a mixture of friendship and possible lust for their love of yourself? If it's hurting you then take some time out to think about your feelings. Think about if you're feelings are making you feel bad or you're struggling. If you are maybe you should decide how to possibly get over them or just work your way through them. However, if it is affecting how you are around them then this is a struggle. It is definitely difficult because sometimes you want to tell them but you're unsure of the outcome. And if you know they're straight then that's even tougher. Maybe, if you can talk to another close friend who knows them, and someone you can trust, about these feelings. Opening up to someone who won't judge will help yourself. But sometimes it is too hard and easier to just hide them.

Being honest about your feelings with yourself and your friend, life's too short. It could be the start of something amazing.

It's rough. I went through it the hard way, with heartbreak and healing. It's not always easy if you're truly in love. It can require the whole process of going through this. If you're able to reflect and stop yourself from getting deeply entrenched, then this would be ideal. However, it is difficult to stop your feelings. If you know that it is impossible to be with your best friend who is straight, you will have to get over the feelings eventually, and this happens over different periods of time for different people. It is painful and hard, but always remember to love yourself and surround yourself with supportive friends (or Listeners).

This is always hard falling in love with a friend, especially when they are straight. The best thing to do, from my experience, is to be forward and tell your friend how you feel. If they truly care about you, they will tell you if they resiprocate, and if they don't they will try to continue the friendship with you. If you tell them how you feel, and they aren't willing to make things work, then they were most likely not a true friend in the first place.

Remember to respect that they can’t choose who they do and don’t like. If it is something that’s taking up a lot of your thoughts, then try and speak with them about these feelings you’re getting. If they’re your best friend then they’ll understand that you can’t help how you feel either, and perhaps together you can work something out. Sometimes focusing your efforts elsewhere can help, such as on your schoolwork or on your own mental health. It might be a case of spending a little less time together, just so you have a chance to work around these feelings. Love can change a lot over time, so try not to worry too much that this is how you’ll feel for the rest of your life. There’ll definitely be other people out there that you’ll have the same kind of feelings for, just remember to take this kind of thing one step at a time.

Well, it's never going away if you do not admit it in the first place. Otherwise it'll stick in you until, God knows when. If you're not getting it out, then it won't get out by itself. On the other hand, you can try to point out the flaws of that best friend to yourself, see if there is anything that can make you take your mind off them. Remember to keep it to yourself, though. Just between you and yourself about these flaws. Besides, we might all feel a little sparkle with our best friends someday. But it's just a crush. If you don't want to "ruin" it, trust me, the crush will eventually go away.

If it's too obvious or too hard to handle, then a talk could help. Communication and telling the truth should be the right move. It would be hard to understand it through text if you want to share your feelings with them so it is better to do it upfront, one on one. Saying the best about them, complimenting them, saying how you really love what you have with them but honesty isn't something to be ashamed, saying that you can't control what you feel doesn't make you a bad guy here. It may seem awkward for them but they wouldn't do anything radical as long as they understand.

Be gentle with yourself, your human! This is a really tricky situation, being honest is always great, but can be really hard to navigate. Take your time and try to gauge how they might react. You could try a story about a similar scenario and see how they react. Your feels are authentic and there is nothing wrong with feeling this type of attraction. You must be proud of reaching out for help to navigate a tricky situation. It takes a lot of strength to ask for support. Remember to be gentle with yourself!

If you can be open about it, that would be great ; it's even better if they know already about your preferences. Considering it's your best friend, I don't think they would be offended. Now, I understand if you want to be more low key about the whole situation. Once you've realized that you're in love, you should try to distance yourself (enhance why I think it's better to tell them what's going on first, you don't want to lose your best friend). Falling out of love is always possible, it takes time. There is also the possibility of you still being in love with them and staying friends, just learning how to turn this love into appreciation, and things should go smoothly from here!

there is no way to deal with falling in love. once the wheel has started moving, it will not stop. it will crush you head to toe. so if you want to experience being in love and take it forward, then take it in that direction but if you want to stop that wheel, i guess you should try staying away from that person for some time and stop magnifying whatever feeling you have for him/her in your head. our head is a great magnifier. i mean see how it magnifies the 2-3 mm image on retina into a full grown scene before your eyes. i dont know if it makes sense but hope it helps.

It will be hard, but just be a good friend. The root of friendship is love. Even though your love is in a different form than may be appropriate, you can use that to strengthen your friendship. Feed all of your love into just being the best friend you can be. And for you, it will be difficult, but eventually the feelings you have will be replaced or focused on someone new who ,maybe, will love you back. You will get through this.

Remember that they are straight but don't let that inhibit you. Be friends with them, but don't make them uncomfortable. Hang out with them but don't get too close. I have a crush on one of my best friends, who is straight. I really love him as more then a friend but I know he doesn't love me back, and it's hard. I really wish we could be together but I know that's not going to happen. I want to be with him. This kind of thing affects everyone and is one of the harder things in life to get over. Be their friend without making them uncomfortable. It just might work.

It's a very tricky situation. I know i fell in love with my best friend. At that moment, i had to question myself. What do i really want? What Matters to me? When you know your best friend so well, you know what your best friend wants in life too. Then if there is no way that you have a space in your best friends life in that manner, there is no point in hurting both. I had to tell myself, that being together as best friends makes much more sense than being lovers. It's a conscious conversation that you have to have with your self and weigh what's more important. I am not saying that the scenario i went through is the same as yours, so circumstance might be different. But i am sure you would know deep down what your friend wants! so listen to that voice, which thinks from the brain and not from the heart .. for once. it will do good to both .. It helped me..

The main thing you can do to make things easier is just be grateful for the friendship. Theres always going to be more opportunities for future relationships and love out there in the world as limited as you may feel right now. Even though the best case scenario seems like it would be for your best friend to be attracted to you and want you back, it's still pretty great to have proof you can fall in love with someone because it shows you can probably be capable of falling in love again. Something to be mindful of is that your attitude about them only viewing you as a friend will determine a lot about your level of maturity and general character. If you can do your best to be genuinely happy for them and mind your boundaries then things will probably work out and the friendship will be more likely to stay strong. Lastly, although the question assumes the hypothetical best friend is straight, there's a chance they're not but haven't come out of the closet or confessed their feelings yet. What you can do about this is be patient and try to test the waters about their opinions about LGBT+ topics, maybe suggest they watch shows with gay characters and ask them their opinions of them. What matters is that they make an effort to accept you whether they do want to be with you or not and this'll help show if that's the case. Good luck!

Be honest with them, sometimes keeping it inside is more harmful then helpful. Continuing to interact with them as if nothing has changed can be very stressful and space can help. Telling them how you feel but also letting them know that you don’t want to make them uncomfortable is a nice way to ease into the conversation. Ask them to give you some space so you can have some time to yourself to think about things. If your friend reacts in a bad way they may just need some time to think about things too, this is a lot to take in. Give it something time and things should work out for the best. Just remember that communication is key.

Try to differentiate what you like and what you love about him, what he/she thinks about you (not in front of you ) while talking to others. Don't prioritize always what he/she feels always, sometimes friendships are a lot precious to loose . Be honest. If you think he/she feels something more than friendship to you, honestly acknowledge your feelings. Make sure to be alone with him/her and prepare yourself for all possible outcomes. Warn him/her to be honest too, and that you don't want to destroy your friendship, but you think you fell in love. Normally with friends, one person begins to have feelings earlier than the other.

Exploring feelings further to understand/differentiate between love and lust. Once feelings have been able to be distinguished, ask yourself what you can possibly do to express those feelings safely. If no impacts and situation is friendly, confide in friend... only if you want to :) It is okay to fall in love and it is also okay if your friend to feel a different way than you. Most of times, they will feel happy and appreciated that someone fell in love with them. Don't worry if a relationship doesn't bloom out of it, take the happiness that you have given them and love it :)

hi! this is definitely a difficult situation that you are in and I want to say that I genuinely feel for you in your predicament. I would first before you do anything ask yourself if these are truly feeling of love or feeling in the sexual sense, opposed to say an extreme sense of familiarity and level of comfort. this is the first thing that I would do. before you change anything in a friendship whether straight or not this is something to think about. how does the person make you feel? how would your life change if the other person were to say they were falling in love with you too? but on the other side of thing play devils advocate and ask whether you would be ok if your friendship turns sour because of your attraction. think inwardly first and then outward would be best.

If I fell in love with my best friend, it would probably be extremely difficult for me to come to terms with. In all honesty, I probably would not be able tod encipher my emotions in that given moment in time. It would more than likely take me a while to understand my feelings for them and where they came from. It would be scary, of course, but I would have to tell them at the end of the day. It wouldn’t be fair to myself, for one, to continually allow my feelings for him to grow when there is so much uncertainty as to how he truly feels about me. And second, it would be unfair to him to hold in those feelings from him because he would be completely oblivious to the situation from the start.