At least for me, it worked out way better than I could have ever hoped.

I met my boyfriend in college, and we became very close. I moved in with him for a short time when times got tough. We were best friends for months before I finally gathered the courage to tell him I was insanely in love with him. I found out after releasing these feelings that he had literally felt the same from the start, and we had both foolishly wasted months in the friend zone, sleeping side by side without ever making a move. We were both too scared of losing the friendship to admit our feelings, but when we did it sparked a fire that would never go out.

Let me tell you, if you ever fall in love with your best friend, my God, PLEASE tell them. Whether or not they feel the same, you will be glad you did, because it might just work out like this.

Being in love with your best friend is the best, because

1. You already know them.

At the start of every relationship, you must endure the relationship-determining getting-to-know-you stage. A lot of secrets come out that could be a deal-maker or a deal-breaker. Lucky for you, if you are pursuing love with someone who was first your best friend, you already know them well enough to know if you should be running away or not. Of course, it’s still exciting because you are always learning new things about them, especially now that you are learning about them from a romantic perspective. But it always feels good to know a person’s true nature and character from the start.

2. You share friends with them.

There’s never really an issue with “you spend too much time with the guys!” or vise versa. You guys more than likely share the same friends, but if not, that doesn’t matter. Your girl is your bro, and your man is one of the gals. The way best friends get along, you should have no problem bringing your boo into the crew. They’ll love them just like you do, if you’ve found the right one. Sharing friends also makes this kind of relationship amazing because you’re more likely to spend more time together if your social schedules line up. And the best part is, when you’ve got this relationship, it never seems clingy or appears like you are spending too much time together. You don’t get sick of each other, because you just don’t.

3. Every experience is better because they are with you.

My boyfriend and I are moving down South together with no plans whatsoever. All we’ve got is a van, some clothes and some money. If I were to be doing this alone, I would be terrified, nervous, and worried that I will fail. Having him by my side completely changes the way I look at this move. I’m not nervous or scared at all. In fact, with him, I feel safe, excited, and I can’t wait to see how it goes. When your partner is your best friend, you rarely want to do things on your own, because your experiences are best shared with them. For the rare times you are doing things without them, all you can think about is how much you can’t wait to tell them about it. Also, with this type of relationship, nobody thinks badly of it. Nobody looks at you guys and thinks “Jeez, they can’t ever do anything without each other.” because the fact is that you can, you are strong enough to, it’s just the simple fact that you would rather not.

4. You have those amazing old stories from when you were both still in the friend zone.

At least for me, these are my favorite. It’s so warming to me to reminisce on the times when we were best friends and our hidden feelings hadn’t yet surfaced. It’s an even better feeling to know that the friendship you had is still there, unaffected by the intrusion of romance. When a true friendship bond and romance come together, it’s undeniably the best fucking feeling.

5. There's rarely any fighting, because there is a lot of trust.

There’s a reason you guys were best friends beforehand. You get along, have similar interests, and must enjoy doing similar things. As a couple, you never really have an issue with fighting over what to do, because you’re compatible. You agree on most things, which is great because it keeps fighting to a minimum. You also have no problem trusting them, because you already know their relationship patterns. You wouldn’t have pursued it or even fallen in love with them (I would hope) if they were a raging whore. Odds are, that person has such a faithful nature that it's one of the major reasons you fell for them.

6. They've already seen you at your worst, and they love it just as much as your best.

When we were just friends, I used to lounge around his apartment in sweatpants after days without a shower. He had seen me puking my guts out from drinking too much, waking up with crusty drool and an oily face, and coming over sweaty from a long day of work with bags under my eyes, no makeup, and my hair somewhat resembling a bird’s nest. He consoled me when I was having a mental breakdown during a bad trip, and when I was having a crying fit over an issue I don’t even remember because it was so unimportant. Somehow he still fell in love with me. Knowing that he had already seen me at my lowest made the relationship that much better. I was comfortable. That’s why being in love with your best friend is the shit right there- you’re already close as fuck. Tight. Homies. Bros. But now with a passionate spark of love that makes it all the better.