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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be terrified that I am in love with my best friend and think I am a horrid person (long)

8 replies

usualuser · 21/03/2011 15:52

I went to post this in relationships but have read enough about that topic to have been apprehensive. Was hoping I could get a more rounded opinion here.

I have known my friend for 4 years and we met while studying together. We had our ups and downs friendship wise but I think that was just us maturing as we are in our twenties now. When we first met he had just come out of a 3 year relationship with a girl he had known since being a teenager and was at a place where he just wanted to party and have fun. I was in an up and down relationship which I left after knowing my friend for one year (not cos of him, just giving time frame). I knew I was attracted to him from the start but it wasn't like a loving or caring feeling beyond friendship, though we were both young and flirtatious, there was always a lot of tension between us and people in our social group used to talk about it alot.

We both started at the same university together and it was fun partying in the first year for both of us as I was newly single and going a bit wild too. We used to meet for lunch 2/ 3 times a week and talk about uni and other stuff. He was always a little funny with me, like he always had his guard up and I used to interpret it as him treating me unkindly from time to time, but we stayed friends and I soon learned it was his way of being, so to speak.

Over the past few years we have essentially grown up into adults together. I told him a few years ago when I started to have feelings of really caring about him that I liked him and he told me he wasn't interested. He said I was a beautiful girl and he respected me and our friendship so didn't want to do anything. I accepted that, but it did cause some tension in our friendship for a few months (we stopped meeting for lunch and talking like before, his behaviour became even more guarded around me).

After a summer break we were back to ourselves and I have always cared for him, a feeling that has gotten deeper and more meaningful as the years have gone on. I know this has been a two way friendship and he too cares about me because (though he is a bloke-ish type and doesn't talk openly emotionally) we have had conversations where it has been mentioned and I am his oldest and closest female friend, and someone he talks to about things he doesn't talk to his other mates about. There have been moments where his feelings for me have been on show, but I don't want to go into too much detail as its somewhat embarrassing Blush

I met my DP two years ago and we have been together since though have had a couple of breaks lasting two to three months (mainly as I was aprehensive about having another long term relationship). But I love, respect and want to be with my DP and we have maintained a good relationship overall and even a friendship when we weren't together.

My DP has mentioned in the past a few times that he felt my friendship with the other guy is slightly odd, sort of tense and seeming to have more to it from my friends behaviour towards me from a guys perspective. I acknowledged this and told him of our history (have always been an honest and open type) but he knows I would always be honest with him if there was something more to tell, which there isnt really.

They have not really spent much time together though as I am now pregnant and comitting to my DP, my friend seems to be wanting to make more of an effort to get to know my DP which is great for me as they are both important to me and I would like them to be friends.

But there have been funny moments, tension and my feelings for my friend seem to not be going away. He has been around in my life through big changes and we have known the best and worst sides of each other. He is going to be away for a substantial period of time from this summer ending and my feelings of sadness are very great. I have other close friends of course, but there is something different about our friendship. When he comes back I will be settled down and we won't see each other as much and it is making me very sad. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him and it scares me to think that I am actually in love with him. I know he is going to miss me too because we have talked about it, he doesn't want us to loose touch.

I have had him in the friend zone for so long that acknowledging it seems too far fetched but I have to get this off my chest.

I love my DP but feel so guilty and sad all at the same time.

I have so many mixed emotions just writing this, I have a partner and family to think of now and I know the implications of that.

Sorry this is really long, just needed to let this out. I guess I need a reality check and someone to smack some sense into me. I guess I am just wondering if I really am a horrid person, because I really feel like one.

OP posts:
wellwisher · 21/03/2011 19:47

I told him a few years ago when I started to have feelings of really caring about him that I liked him and he told me he wasn't interested.

This is all you need to know - move on, even if you have to cut off contact to get him out of your head. You're having another man's baby! Time to start looking forward to the future rather than pining over something that was never real. Sorry :(

SolpadeineMaxed · 21/03/2011 19:55

Your friend has had plenty of opportunity to 'make a move' and he hasn't. He's also told you that he wasn't interested.

I know your feelings for him are strong, and you are torn, but I really think you need to let him go.

You are definitely not a horrid person.

HalfTermHero · 21/03/2011 20:01

Aw, I agree that you are not horrid at all. You have just clung onto something that wasn't ever there Sad. I think it will actually be a blessing for you that your friend is going away. You have a dp who loves you and a little baby on the way. Your future looks bright! You already have what so many people wish for. Embrace the good and put this other man in the past where he belongs.

TheProvincialLady · 21/03/2011 20:02

He's not your best frend. He's someone you have always fancied, but never quite got it together wth. You never will, and now you are having someone else's baby you need to let him go completely. Your feelngs for him are not healthy in the relationship you have. A lot of it is probably hurt pride and a sense of the one that got away, combined with wishful thinking and rose tinted glasses (cliche alert, sorry!). But you are NOT a horrid person.

TheSecondComing · 21/03/2011 20:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pollyblue · 21/03/2011 20:05

You're not a horrid person! You're very human, and God only knows I'd be the last person to throw stones because I'm in a bit of turmoil myself at the moment but I won't bore you with that Grin

Ok, reality check - you've had a lovely, long-time very close friendship together, which is fab. But there has been plenty of time and opportunity for it to develop into something more, it hasn't, and your friend has been very honest in saying he doesn't feel that way about you.

You're facing a big time of change, your friend moving away and the baby you're expecting. Maybe you're panicking a little? I don't doubt how you feel, but give it time and (hope this doesn't sound trite) try not to think too much, just concentrate on your DH and new baby and see how your friendship goes over the next few months.

IreneHeron · 21/03/2011 20:07

Your feelings are probably intensifying because you're about to be separated for a while. You're obsessing a bit because you know you're going to miss him. Just remember, your DP loves and wants to be with you, your friend never really has.

cara0705 · 28/03/2011 14:03

don't be daft honestly i was in the same situation as u with my friend only difference we both liked each other, we knew each other for 5yrs went to college n uni 2gether ppl actually thought we were an item at one point.
He would tell me to leave my dp for him and dislike him before he got the chance to know him.
i took the desicion to tell my bfriend that i loved n cared for him but his friendship ment much more to me than a relationship, and his words where i dont want u not in my life and if it has to be a bfriend then so be it.Which was good all round. Plus no girl takes the piss out him as were very protective of each other like bro/sis, mabey thats what weird lol.
but i now have my prince charming,2 beautiful girls my truly bf ever(who is a boy lol).

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