Can You Be More Than Friends?

Do you have a friend that you have stronger feelings about, but you don’t know how to make things progress? You run the risk of alienating your friend if you express yourself, or risk never knowing what could have been, if you don’t. What can you do beyond heading to a florist and buying some flowers to see if they get the hint? Firstly, here are a few ways to gauge if you should be more than friends:

• Is there specific body language that could reveal they like you too?
• Have you ever misunderstood anything they have said that could have been a sign?
• Will becoming romantically involved ruin your friendship or make it stronger?
• Will it happen naturally?

Reading Your Friend’s Body Language

Body language is the easiest way to see if someone likes you, but it can be difficult to understand from a friend. A friend will like you anyway, and many body-language signs could be misinterpreted as signs of romance. This is where you need to be very careful. Perhaps give out your own subtle body language to show you are interested.

 So what signs should you look for to figure out if you can move from being a friend to a lover?

• The eyes can tell a lot about a person. Someone’s pupils can reveal if they are romantically interested.
• Touching hair and other nervous body language can sometimes mean there are feelings beyond friendship.
• While many friends touch, some forms of contact may indicate romantic attraction.

Be careful, because it is very easy to misinterpret body language. Anytime you want to move beyond friendship you should take your time.

Misunderstandings Between Friends

At some point you will need to examine how much your friendship means to you and how strong it is. Many friendships can end when one friend expresses romantic feelings that are not reciprocated by the other. It is important to understand whether your friendship could survive if the relationship begins but then fails. While it is important to pursue your feelings, sometimes it is not worth risking a good friendship.

Taking the Next Step

If you are comfortable and confident that your friend will like you back, it may be time to take the next step. You can do this in a number of ways, but the easiest is just to say how you feel. Perhaps ask to take your friend out a date. You can also go for the less subtle approach of kissing your friend, but this can be awkward if they do not like you back.