Beginning a new relationship is exciting. You finally get that one person that you truly have feelings for, and you suddenly have this inkling to spend all your time with them.

I totally get that. I’ve recently started a new relationship and I couldn’t be happier. I wish that I could spend every moment with him, and recently we’ve been doing almost just that.

The problem with that is, I’m afraid that he is taking time away from his friends in order to be with me.

I’ve tried my best to push him to be with them more. I could be in his dorm and a friend will invite him out to eat and I will basically beg him to go without me to be with them. It’s not that I don’t like spending time with him. We’ve established I love the moments I have with him. It’s just that I want him to have a life outside of me, and it isn’t fair to his friends or to him (even if he doesn’t deem it unfair) that I’m taking up most of his time.

The same thing goes for me. Although I spend most of my time with my friends daily, I know that I don’t want this new found relationship to ruin my already existing friendships. Although all my friends are amazing and openly-supportive of my newfound love per say, I don’t ever want them to feel like they no longer exist because I have a boyfriend.

This is where communication and space plays a huge role in relationships. It’s always healthy to give each other some space. It’s also key to understand that you are not someone's life, and they do have other things outside of you and their relationship, may it be school, a job, or the occasional competitive video game tournament (Love you Peter).

I know that you may want to spend most of your free time with your significant other. It’s healthy to want to do that, and some alone time with your SO is a must, but what some people forget is that they are not the only people in their lives that love and support you. So please, if you are in a relationship, try your best to not forget about your friends. Most likely, they were there for you before that person you were dating, and it would be a shame to lose a group of people so special.