Dating your best friend often begins with the two of you being friends. Supposedly, it takes two years to get to know someone. If you have been friends with someone for more than two years, and then begin to date them, there is a good chance that you will stay together for a long period of time. You already know a lot about this person, probably more than you would know if you were dating instead of being friends. We tend to let out a lot more personal details while being friends than we do while being lovers, for the worry that a lover may judge. When you are friends with someone, you know that they won’t judge you for anything and know that you can be wide open with them.

When you begin your relationship as friends, it gives you time to know exactly what you like and don’t like (but choose to accept) about them. These feels will travel into your romantic relationship and it will make it a lot easier. If you and your boyfriend or girlfriend started off as friends, you will already have unconditional love for one another. When you were just friends, you may have hurt them without noticing, but now that you are with them, you would never even think about hurting them. Unconditional love comes with time, but if you were friends first, the love already exists and breeds a relationship that will end up hurting less. There are a lot more couples who are best friends from being best friends beforehand, but there are also couples who began dating first and turned into best friends later. It can absolutely happen in any circumstance but it does happen more often while being friends before lovers.

They Tell You Everything

Depending on the type of person your partner is, they may like to keep their personal business to themselves. If they are one of these people but still tell you everything, this is a good sign that you are dating your bestie. Do you know all of their family and friend drama? Do you know their every accomplishment before anyone else? Do you know what the characters in their books are up to? If so, you are definitely dating your best friend. They will also complain to you about their job and people they may not like because they really trust you enough not to tell anyone. With this person, there is now such thing as secrets or untold stories—everything is out in the open and nothing will ever be hidden. This isn’t only the person you go to when you want to tell them anything, but this is who you will always go to when you have an issue.

Their Pain Is Your Pain

If you are dating your bestie, their pain will always be your pain. No matter what they are going through, they will never have to go through it alone. You have so much compassion and empathy for this person, that even if you tried, you wouldn’t have the control to not feel what they are going through. This will go the other way as well. When you may be feeling unhappy or upset, you will see that your partner is also feeling the same. Sometimes, your partner will make you feel better by telling you a joke or buying you your favourite fast food, but if they cannot help you in that way, they will get onto your level and feel the same pain with you.

When you are dating your best friend, even when they hurt you, they will feel the pain and will try to make everything better. If anything happens to you and when anything happens to them, you will both feel pain and be there for one another whole-heartedly. You will not have to try to understand this person’s pain, you just will, and this would be the same with them. It can sometimes be hard going through situations alone. When you are with someone who feels your pain, everything that you feel will cut in half while your partner takes on some of that hurt. Having your partner be your best friend will only help when it comes to the bad times and the hurt that goes on in your life.

Hard Times

During hard times, the both of your first thoughts are never to break up. There is no way that the two of you want to break up because that could mean also losing the friendship that you already have. If you are quick to say "Let's break up", or "Maybe this isn’t working", this is a sign that you are not best friends. You also wouldn’t do anything much to hurt this person either, and they wouldn’t do the same. They want you to be happy and they want you to have as much as you give them so they try their hardest to keep you happy and to keep the relationship happy. If you and your partner have grown through very difficult situations, this is an indication that you are best friends. Anyone who does not want to grow with you and is alright with just handing you off, is not someone who thinks of you as their best friend.

You Have Comfortable Silences

Comfortable silences happen when you and another are obviously comfortable with one another, but also know each other enough to know that they are not upset with you, and that things are not awkward, but that you just want to walk or sit without having to force conversation or say anything. Being in uncomfortable silence is definitely a situation that everyone can feel, and if you are feeling this in your current relationship, you are not best friends and you are not at a very high level of comfortability yet. This isn’t to say that you will never get there, but you are just not there yet.

If you are very able to sit quietly and comfortably with your partner, you are at a great point in your relationship. You should always feel comfortable in a quiet room with your best friend, but also your partner. This is such a big deal because when we are alone we are able to sit quietly, and sometimes when you are in the company of another, all you want to do is be quiet. It is terrible being quiet in a room that feels awkward and like you are supposed to be saying something. If you feel comfortable with your partner while being silent, you are most likely dating your best friend.

Interests

Do you and your partner enjoy the same types or music, movies, or television shows? If not, this does not mean that you aren’t best friends. The difference between being besties and not being besties is that you and your partner try to like the other's interests and even get into them. This is a sign that you are dating your best friend. Your partner wants you to be happy and wants you to indulge in the activities that you enjoy. If they are constantly rejecting your invitations to go with you somewhere that you enjoy just because they don’t like it, this is a huge indication that they are not your best friend and they don’t think much about how you feel. If you are the person putting in more effort when it comes to taking interest in your partner’s interests, this is totally wrong! Not only as a partner but even has a friend you should always try indulging in the different things that your partner is interested in. This will actually help build your bond a lot stronger.

The First Person You Tell

When your partner is the first person you tell when something good or bad happens, then they are probably your bestie. This happens a lot more often when good things happen just because you want them to feel as happy as you are, and you know that your happiness will in turn make them happy. All in all, you want to share all of your life moments with them. No matter what the news, the first person you will always turn to tell first is your partner. This is a great sign that you are now dating your bestie.

Their Advice Matters

When you are dating your bestie, it only seems that their advice matters because their opinions matter the most to you. An even bigger indication that you are dating your best friend is if you actually take their advice or relationship advice. A lot of us ask but don’t take. This is a sign that you trust them enough to help you make decisions that will impact your life. When you have an issue, this is the first and possibly only person you will go to for advice. A lot of the time when someone gives you advice, you will not take it. You respect this person’s opinion so much that you will always take their advice and that is a sign that you are now officially dating your bestie.

Lots Of Laughter

When you and your partner are constantly laughing and are interested in the same humor, this is a huge sign that you are dating your bestie. When you are with someone who doesn’t have the same sense of humor or someone with no sense of humor at all, it can sometimes be hard to even be in the same room with them let alone date them. When you are interested in the same comedies and types of humor it is so much easier to fall in love with someone. It will make them appear funnier (obviously), and wittier than anyone who fails to share your sense of humour.

This doesn’t even have to do with being in a romantic relationship with someone, but also being in a friendly relationship. If you are laughing more than you are upset with your partner, you are definitely dating your best friend and possibly your life partner. Inside jokes are another sign that you are dating your bestie. If you have more inside jokes than you can count, you are definitely dating your best friend.

You Can Finish Their Sentences

When you know someone extremely well, you will begin to notice that you will be able to finish their sentences. You will just know what is coming next no matter how hard you try not to. A lot of the time, if you spend a ton of time and energy with a person and also give them a lot of attention, you will most likely be able to read their minds. If not a lot of what your partner says is really a surprise to you, you are most likely dating your best friend.

You Actually Cannot Picture Your Life Without Them

With a partner that you really don’t picture yourself with, it is easy not to see them in your future. You can see a time when they weren’t in your life and you can see a time when they will not be in your life in the future. When you are dating your best friend, you will never be able to imagine your life without them, and when you think about a time when you maybe didn’t know them, you will wonder how you ever got along without them. Living without this person as a friend or partner would make you extremely unhappy and as if you are not whole. If you have been friends with this person for a long time and then began dating, there is no way that you will let them get away. This is a huge perk to dating your best friend because they will never give up on you and you will never give up on them.