All The Ways You Love Your Best Friend

Love your best friend. Love them more than you love a lazy Netflix night in bed with Cheetos. Love your best friend more than you loved Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman or Channing Tatum in that movie where he spends the whole time taking his clothes off. Love them just a much as you love yourself, and even more than you love your current fling.

It’s true what they say: lovers come and go but best friends are forever. Once you’ve found that special one, don’t let them go. You’ll know when it’s happened. You can’t eat (without their company at your favorite bar for 25 cent wing night.) You can’t sleep (without wrapping up your lighthearted, rapid fire text conversation of the day.) You can’t imagine a time when you’d rather be alone than laughing along to whatever with them. You can’t even get through a day without thinking about them. That’s how you know.

Love your best friend because they know everything there is to know about you. They know your favorite movie, and have all the lines memorized too because you’ve seen it so many times together. They know when you’re having a bad day based solely on your demeanor and texting style, and they know exactly how to cheer you up. They even know that when you say you’re “fine,” they should be at your house with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s (with two spoons) within 15 minutes — and if they’re really your best friend, they’ll be there.

Love your best friend because you wouldn’t be the person you are without them. So much of you is a result of your friendship. Together, the two of you have been through so much and those things have shaped the person you are today. When your ex stomped all over your heart, they were there to glue the pieces back together. When they had a death in their family, you listened for days, weeks, months — however long it takes until they felt that there was nothing left to say.

Love your best friend even when you hate them. When they break your trust and when they cancel plans at the last minute, love them. When they choose their boy or girlfriend over you, love them just as much. Even when, God forbid, they make you feel horrible, love them because you can’t imagine your life without them.

And more than just loving them, tell them that you do. Tell them every day so that (even when you fight) they will always know you treasure them. Introduce them to your family like you do with the people you’re dating. There’s a pretty good chance your best friend will fit right in and become an extension of your family anyway. Fight for them when they need you to, even when they don’t ask.

And finally, thank your best friend. Thank them for putting up with you when you’re moody and don’t feel like talking. Thank them for always giving you a place to stay if you have nowhere else, and never denying you the couch when you were in need. Thank them for being exactly who they are and teaching you so much about yourself. Thank them for just being there, and for loving you too.