About 12 years ago in high school, my best friend's sister had a crush on me. I thought she was cute, but didn't think much else of her. I didn't really know much about her. But I gave it a shot and started to talk to her, and we dated for about a year. She grew on me, and I fell in love with her really hard. I was really close with the whole family, and her parents and grandparents and brothers all considered me family. Then one day her parents started to divorce and she was going through hard times, and some reason she broke up with me. Till this day it's not clear why, we were both young and dumb I guess. But I was hurt really bad. I never stopped caring about her or loving her.
We stayed friends over all these years. Talked every now and then about random things like relationships and life. We both would discuss our failed relationships, because that is what we seem to have in common. Recently her and I both have been through some bad heartbreaks, and we both are losing confidence and stuff. We also have been talking about how all our friends are getting married and starting families, and we both are about that age where we want to do the same, but we both can't find or keep a partner long enough. She seems to always mention finding a best friend and getting married and starting a family, it seems to be the only thing that will make her happy right now.
Anyway, recently her last boyfriend just bailed on her, right after she just bought a condo ( a big step in her life ). She was/is depressed, and worried about her future, and doing the whole home owner thing alone... I hated seeing her depressed and hurt, so I stepped in to be the best friend anyone can have. I offered to help her with a few things she needed help with, and I've just been there for her, trying to cheer her up (even though I am still pretty depressed because of something that happened to me recently). So this past week her and I have been doing some renovation on her condo, spending a little time together (first time in a lonnng time), doing DIY projects, I have been teaching her a lot of things, and just helping her. Trying to make her laugh, and give her confidence, and bring her to a better state of mind. I had dedicated a lot of my time and energy on a project for her, and when it was done she couldn't have been happier. She loved it. She even offered to have dinner, drinks, and a movie when she got all her furniture in her place.
While spending a couple days with her, I couldn't help but fall in love with her. She is so beautiful in every way, it drives me crazy. But, she is still getting over her ex boyfriend. I see she needs time and space. But I am still not sure if I am just in a friend zone, or if she might be interested in me, and that drives me nuts too. I don't want to ask because I don't want to ruin our friendship, or push her away. It's too soon anyway... I just wish I knew if she was still attracted to me or likes me more than a friend...
We have been texting each other every day this whole week. She would go shopping for furniture and send me pictures of things asking my opinion and if I liked them, etc., almost like she was my wife and I was helping her decorate our house. She has been texting me almost every morning when she wakes up to tell me to have a nice day at work, or just to talk about dreams she had. I told her that when she texts me in the morning she makes my day, and I smile from ear to ear. She laughed and said it was no problem. I actually apologized to her once because I was texting her a lot, and she said "why are you apologizing? I text you all the time too!". Which is true, she has been texting me just as much... At one point I told her she has been on my mind a lot. I have been flirting with her a little bit, hinting... I'm not sure she has been flirting back? I can't tell. I had a bad day one day, and she said "cheer up buttercup, I got a little surprise for you next time I see you!". I haven't seen her in person since then so I'm not sure what it might be, but it seemed flirty.
A few times I told myself, "ok I'm not going to text her all day today unless she texts me first. I need to back off and give her space.". Every time I tried that, she would text me first thing in the morning to my surprise... and we would end up chatting all day. I love that...
Today she texted me first thing in the morning again. We talked a bit. About mid day I asked her a question via text, but she never replied. I figured I would give her space, and just let her answer when she could. She hasn't been feeling well the past couple days, she is battling a head cold or allergies, we don't know. Anyway, like 5 hours go by, and I ended up calling her to tell her about something else. While talking I asked if she was ok because she never replied to my last text. She said "what text? I didn't get any new messages from you. Send it again?"... I don't know, I trust her 100%, and wouldn't ever think she would ever lie to me, but some reason I don't believe she didn't get the text. I think after this entire week of being really close to her, I might have just got my first clue that she might not be into me. Did she lie? I think text messages are pretty reliable.
Maybe I am just being a fool... Maybe I am friend zoned. Her good friend, her mom, and her brother all think "there is something there" between us. I don't know. All I know is that I could easily marry this girl and spend the rest of my life with her, it would be a dream come true if she felt the same. I wish I could read minds.
How can I tell if she is into me more than just friends without asking her? She still needs time to heal from her last relationship. I don't want to push her away, or lose her friendship. I also don't want to be a rebound, so I need to back off, but I also don't want her to think I'm not interested in her....
Damn I'm so confused. Any advice?