<p>Friendship.</p>
<p>I hate that. They're not going to do anything because they don't want their friendship to change. Do you agree with that reasoning? Who says their friendship has to change at all? And if it does, why is that change assumed to have exclusively bad potential?</p>
<p>I just think you only live once and the intricacies of your life should be consistent with your feelings. Is that so complicated? =/</p>
<p>Well, it’s beneficial if they both like each other. The situation would probably be awkward if one of the friends found out that the other didn’t possess the same feelings towards the other friend though.</p>
<p>thats when you go for benefits. . . jk lol</p>
<p>It’s probably awkward if they don’t have the same feelings for you.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t know what that was like though. :)</p>
<p>It’s even more ridiculous considering that good relationships come out of good friendships anyway. But only if sentiments are shared.</p>
<p>What turns off a lot of people though is the worst case scenario: a bad breakup leading to bitter feelings towards each other and a loss of friendship, accompanied by a possible split in their once-shared friends circle.</p>
<p>gahhhh. i’ve been in that situation…he liked me, i liked him. he made a move, and blah blah blah you’re never truly able to go back to being friends. i think some times the best relationships are the ones where you were friends first. but that wasn’t the case for the two of us…it ended so bad. i think we both hurt each other a lot with the way things ended between us. we haven’t talked in 8 months. although, he tried to talk to me a few days ago, but it’s too hard to talk to him…it still kinda hurts just to be around him.</p>
<p>but anywayyy…long story short: don’t dooo it! it’s not worth losing a friendship. unless you’re one of the few, and it actually works out</p>
<p>If there’s attraction, you won’t be able to think about much more than the fact that you want to be with this person. The friendship will get even more awkward. In fact, I would say it would cease to be a friendship.</p>
<p>If the other friend has the same attraction, I say go for it! You only live once. And if it’s just too awkward once you become a couple, then you both can mutually break it off and go back to the way you were, and be able to pursue other people and really be friends. That said, it takes maturity from both sides to be able to look at a relationship holistically.</p>
<p>Some of the most loving relationships begin as a cordial friendship.</p>
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<p>Unless the awkwardness is only apparent to one of you. Then the breakup won’t be mutual and the awkwardness will persist.</p>
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<p>Here’s the problem. You can’t go straight from friends to sack buddies. This is where nearly all relationships blow up. There needs to be a transition period. Otherwise a breakup will be crushing.</p>
<p>FWIW, it definitely is worth doing it correctly. Most of the best couples started out as friends. Long term successful relationships are based on friendship, not lust.</p>
<p>Within my circle of AP/GT friends, there’s a couple that is just like this. Under the pretense of best friendship, they’ve been engaged in a depressing tango since the start of high school. The girl is in an on off relationship with another guy and the boy is always there a step ahead of the mishaps to pick up the pieces. Despite the obvious sexual tension and our increasingly frequent badgering, the guy hasn’t made his move yet or even given an explanation as to why not.
If it were as easy as making a heartfelt declaration and riding off into the moonlight, I’m sure my friends, and many more teens would do it. But as it stands, when you care enough about somebody to risk demolishing the dynamic between the two of you, you have to be willing to explore contingencies, no matter how unlikely, no matter painful.</p>