What to do when friendship turns to love?

Friendships are such a beautiful and strong connection in which two people share a lot of things.  As you share those things, it can be somewhat natural for a friendship to turn into love.  Some of the strongest romantic relationships out there start with a friendship.  So, it is important to validate that being friends is a really healthy component to love.  The physical components of love and attraction are great, but it will be the friendship component that will help keep a love going long-term.  Friendship will also help you two sort through any difficulties, and hopefully, you can remember that strong foundation of friendship.

As your friendship turns into love, it will be important to respect your friendship.  To do that, it will be really important to be transparent about expectations. Some expectations might happen naturally, but some might feel somewhat awkward at first, so it is important to be transparent about that.  For example, the physical acts you might want to do could feel awkward since you have been friends.  Being clear about your expectations and what you are comfortable with versus uncomfortable with will be really important.  Try not to hold anything back to make sure everything is on the table.  That can feel scary and risky, but it will be important to put everything out there for the sake of not wanting to lose the friendship. 

While being clear about expectations with your partner, it can even be helpful to make a pact for the friendship.  Adjusting from friendship to love can sometimes work, but sometimes it is just not a good fit.  It is okay to experiment with this to see if it is worth it or not, but it could be helpful to make a pact for your friendship just in case things do not work out.  Having a mature acceptance that the love part could not work out can help put less pressure on it and feel like you are not gambling everything away.