11 Things No One Tells You About Dating Your Best Friend

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1. It’s weird. Trying to transition from calling each other “Bro” to “Baby” is kind of awkward at first. It takes a lot of concentration to throw sweet pet names at each other with a straight face on the first few attempts. Also, holding hands with them will most likely end up breaking out into constant thumb wars.

2. One of you will probably have a more difficult time transitioning from friendship to relationship than the other. So, you both finally realized you had a crush on each other at the same time. Congratulations! But odds are, one of you definitely had a crush for longer than the other, and you will be the one to dive head-first into the idea of love. The other person will probably need mass quantities of patience and understanding from you as they slowly dip their toes in the water to make sure it’s safe.

3. The Honeymoon Phase might not exist for you two. You probably already know too much about each other before joining each other in a relationship, which might make things a little less “magical” than for the typical couple. You’ll probably just kind of jump right in where you are and keep kicking Life’s ass together, the same as before, only with a different title now.

4. There is no awkward avoidance of talking about your ex with them because they already know your life story. Odds are, they were your shoulder to cry on when that last asshole broke your heart.

5. You will hold them to a higher expectation than you would if you were dating just anyone. This person knows you. You are vulnerable in the fact that they know your story and where you’ve been, and you will expect them to respect that and never bring you back to those dark places or triggering situations ever again.

6. Telling them, you love them won’t be a weird milestone for your relationship. If the person you are now dating started off as your best friend, odds are you both have already been telling each other you love them for a while now. I guess you will work toward the I’m in love with you milestone, instead (yes, there is a huge difference between the two).

7. The risk of losing them is scarier than that of a typical relationship. By agreeing to move forward with them, you have, in a sense, put all of your eggs in one basket. If things don’t work out, you face the risk of losing your lover AND your best friend.

8. It can be isolating. Before you started dating them, your best friend was your go-to for absolutely anything and everything. Now that you are with them, there are some things that you will need to talk about regarding the relationship to an unbiased, outside source. Unfortunately, the person you might need to vent about is also the only person you trust to talk to about the things that are bothering you, which in turn can result in bottling up emotions and becoming passive aggressive and feeling isolated.

9. The communication between you two will still be superb to anything you have experienced in past relationships. Despite there being some typical things you might not want to talk to them about right away, the overall communication between you will feel like a breath of fresh air.

10. It will either be the best or the worst decision you will ever make. Life is all about taking risks though, right?

11. Falling for them will be the scariest thing you’ve ever done. But if they are truly your best friend, they will catch you every time, regardless.