This person has feelings for their best friend and is wondering if they should tell their friend about it or not.

Hello,

Crushes are hard. Crushes on friends even more so. The existing relationship always makes more a more complicated, risky situation. The fear of ruining the friendship by confessing your feelings is a persistent one, and it's entirely normal to feel that way. Now, what should you do about it? That's where we need to start.

First, open communication is important. Not just with others, but with yourself as well. You need to be able to acknowledge your feelings, process them, and then view them through a logical perspective. Of course, this isn't always something that can be done immediately. That's why you need to fully accept and process where you are mentally and emotionally first. Go in the order of: where are you in life, are you ready for a relationship, and what will you do to improve yourself, and finally, what you will do to improve your relationship with your crush?

Now, I would just like to point out that you can express your feelings to her without "making a move". There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling her how you feel with no strings attached. Is that what you ultimately want? No, it seems to me you want a relationship with her, but that's not something you can decide for her. You're only real options here are to tell her how you feel and accept her response whatever it may be, or to keep it to yourself and hope it goes away with time.

Honestly sweetheart, I feel telling her would do you a lot of good in the long run.

A) It gets the burden of hiding your feelings off of your chest. You would no longer have to keep the stress of hiding the crush from your friend.

B) Who knows? She may like you back, and you just haven't opened that door yet.

C) Even if she doesn't like you that way, or if she feels uncomfortable, that's not your fault. If she distances herself from you because she sent shirtless pictures and things knowing your orientation, that's not your fault. You never requested anything from her. You never acted on anything. Her actions are in her hands. If she gets upset with you for her actions, then that's not the type of person you really want to keep too close. Of course, this is a worst case scenario. You can never truly know what will come of anything until you do it.

I hope this helps, love. Good luck, whatever way you decide to go!

Stay strong,

The Advice Column Team