Friendship is a beautiful and wonderful thing. However, it has the potential to get a little bit messy when your two best friends fall in love. I have compiled a list of eleven observations I made throughout my experience watching my best friends fall in love. Also, I have included a few tips that will help you navigate the complicated world of your best friends' relationship.
1. Your three-person group chat will either die off or be filled with jokes you don’t understand.
If you are like me and enjoy always being in on the joke, good luck. It will take some time to adjust to the fact that things will never be the way they were. Through lots of trial and error, I promise you will figure out the balance between knowing what goes in your best friends’ lives and respecting their space as a couple.
2. You become an expert at third-wheeling.
If you’re as fortunate as I am, your best friends will love you endlessly and be aware that them being together is a bit uncomfortable for you. While hanging out can get a little “third-wheely” at times, trust that the years of friendship have bonded you enough to get through the moments. When you’re in the back seat and you notice them give each other that wow-I-love-you-so-much look at a stoplight, look down at your phone. I promise twitter is more interesting than whatever you were previously talking about.
3. Double dates are SO MUCH FUN.
If you have a boyfriend (or have friends who love setting you up) double dates can be some of the most fun you’ll have. There are none of the obstacles that occur when you don’t actually like your best friend’s boyfriend. You’re hanging out with all your best friends and doing cute romantic things. Who doesn’t love that?!
4. The thought of them being ~together~ will NEVER sit right with you.
IT NEVER SEEMS NORMAL!! You saw each other in the throes of your awkwardness. I’m talking and freshman year braces and bad haircuts. And now they want to be together. Weird.
5. You’ll take about four trillion years to believe that they have feelings for each other.
I have written about five million texts saying “what do you mean you like-like him?” “Are you sure you don’t just love his as a friend?” There will be lots of questions, but when you see how much they love each other, you’ll realize your opinions really don’t matter.
6. You think about their wedding more than they do.
All I want to know is if I can somehow be the maid of honor and the best man. What color is my dress going to be? Big wedding? Eloping? I better be a witness. Also, you will constantly poke fun at them about future kids. A little combination of them is the best/worst thing that could ever happen to this world.
7. You learn WAY more about them than you ever thought you would (and that’s saying a lot).
You thought you knew everything, but you didn’t. What you knew was only from the best friend side. You will now learn about their romantic side from a first-hand source. Don’t be afraid to draw clear, bright-red boundaries.
8. Your mutual friends will text you with a lot of questions.
They will all be just as confused as you were (if not more confused). You’ll say a lot of “I don’t know, but they make each other happy” and “yeah, I've grown to love them together.”
9. You over-analyze every minute of your years of friendship (a lot of things will now make sense).
P.S. Years ago when she said “don’t go to homecoming with him,” there was more to the story.
10. The number of secrets you keep will skyrocket.
So I don’t spoil anything for my dear friends reading this article, I’m talking about this delicately. Any time one plans to do something nice for the other, you will be the first person they come to. They want to know if it’s a good idea, when they should do it, and which thing you think their S.O. will like the most. This will mean that for months you will keep surprises under wraps.
11. You experience a joy you never knew you could.
When you see the way that they look each other and the way she makes him smile, you know you couldn’t have picked a better match for each of them. The way she looks at him when he’s fiddling with something will be kind of gross and yet heartwarming. They are the two people you care about more than anyone else. When you see how much they love each other, you couldn’t be happier for them.
*This piece is dedicated to my best friends in the entire world: Isabel McClain and Lucas Marr. I love you, crazy kids.
