What Happens When You Date a Friend?
Does dating a friend ruin the friendship?
I am currently friends, and I use that term somewhat loosely, with two men that I once dated. We are not the best of friends, for sure, mostly just the occasional interaction on Facebook. And in both cases, we realized we were better as friends. And one of them we only recently got back in touch after many years of not talking.
With both men, however, there was a time when we were much closer friends. And for both, our friendship was stronger after breaking up romantically. But it doesn’t always work out that way when you decide to date a friend.
Many people hesitate to date a friend out of fear of ruining the friendship. They worry that if it doesn’t work out, they’ve not only lost a romantic partner but a good friend. It’s a valid concern, but there is another side to it.
What if it works out? If it works out, you end up in a relationship with a very solid foundation of friendship. You could end up in a relationship that is stronger, and longer lasting, than the average because you were friends first.
It’s the fact that we don’t have a crystal ball to see the future and know which way things will go that makes us hesitate. We want to try for the long, strong relationship but we don’t want to risk the…
