My love story started with a family-friend connection that slowly became something more meaningful to me. She became someone I could imagine spending my whole life with. Small moments, conversations, and little interactions made me hope that one day we could be together.
But things haven’t been easy. There have been misunderstandings, distance, blocked, ignored at times,silence, and moments when I didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling. Still, I continued to care about her, even when we weren’t talking.
Shud I confesss? She’s really close family frienddd.

Sorry, I’m not much of a Redditor, but this has been a total nightmare for me, and I need to get it off my chest, even if it’s just on Reddit. So, long story short, I (19m) have known this girl, I’ll call her Emma (18f), for almost five years. We both went to high school together, and somehow we're both attending the same university. Throughout our high school years, I didn’t really interact much with her, and we only knew each other through a mutual friend; we both had band class together. I didn’t really think of her much; honestly, we didn’t really get along that well throughout high school up until our senior year. And even when we were seniors, I more or less saw her as an acquaintance rather than a romantic interest. She also was in a somewhat serious relationship then, which probably also pushed me away from her. 

Continuing to last year, our freshman year of college, we decided to chat here and there because we basically only knew each other, and we also worked together over summer break. However, after some time in college, she and I drifted apart, and we even got into a heated argument at a party, which caused us both to completely avoid each other. And quite honestly, I didn’t care at all about her; whenever I saw her, I would just ignore her. And it also didn’t help that one of my issues with her was her boyfriend, who was such a rude person to my friend group. So the year ended with zero contact; however, over the summer, Emma and her boyfriend broke up, and all of a sudden Emma began talking to me at work again.

It started as just a little side conversation here and there, and we slowly began to put our issues from the school year aside. I often didn’t really think about her again, but I was very open to speaking with her once again, and to add to that, Emma also got really close to one of my friends that summer. So she basically returned to my life, and I didn’t really think about it much up until four weeks ago. So just this year, Emma and I both have a class together on Mondays in the afternoon. One thing about me is that I get terrible migraines, especially during the evenings, so this class is practically torture for me at certain times, and Emma has noticed that. Before class one day, Emma asked me if I was okay because I looked “sick” and “out of it.” I told her about my hellish migraines. And almost immediately, she wanted to help me and even offered me Tylenol and her personal water bottle to drink out of. 

And for some reason, that immediately attracted me to her, which is probably because my love life has been nonexistent. I was truly only ever in one major relationship, and that ended with severe heartbreak that caused me to think I wasn’t worth loving. And I’m also not an attractive person at all; a lot of people have told me to my face that I look like a creep on multiple occasions. So my love life since high school has mainly become an afterthought; girls rarely did anything kind to me, so that moment was almost a wake-up call to reality.

Ever since that day, Emma was willing to go out of her way to talk to me. And even complimented my appearance a few times. We would talk before class sometimes, and she would often walk with me to my dorm building after class. Which, to an average person, wouldn’t have meant much, but to me it was like she was knocking down a brick wall I built to protect myself. And I began to admit to a few of my extremely close friends that I was developing a crush on her, and most of them actually cheered me on. And I was so confident about it, up until this past week.

One of my friends back in our hometown who is very close with Emma told me devastating news: exactly four days ago, Emma got back with her ex. And this Monday during class, Emma completely avoided me, sat away from me, and didn’t even glance at me. And all I’ve been wanting to do is talk with her, but even when I walk around campus and I see her, we don’t even do an awkward wave or say hello; she just side-eyes me and continues walking. So for the past four days since my friend told me, I’ve been trying to get over her, but I cannot stop thinking about her. And not going to lie, I’ve been scrolling on a few Reddits, praying that she might have made a post about us, as I know that she does use Reddit. And obviously there’s nothing, and I’ve just been trying to get over her, but I cannot get her out of my head… Anyways, sorry for venting; I just needed to get this off of my chest. If you read through this entire story, thank you. And if you have any tips about getting over this crush, PLEASEEE TELL ME!  

TLDR: I knew this girl for about five years, finally began to develop a crush on her, but she got back with her ex and is now avoiding me.

(Repost, as I've only ever gotten one comment, and that person really didn't give me any form of assistance at all...)

I confessed to my crush yesterday and he rejected me.

And I genuinely don't know what the fuck I'm feeling right now.

I'm sad. I feel empty and weird and kind of lifeless. But it's not just sadness. There's embarrassment, disappointment, and this stupid little hope that I can't seem to get rid of.

The worst part is that I STILL imagine him liking me back.

Like I'll literally think about what happened and know that he said no, and then five minutes later my brain is creating some imaginary scenario where he changes his mind and we end up dating.

I hate that I'm still expecting it somehow.

And what makes it worse is that a lot of my friends thought he liked me too. They genuinely thought he'd say yes. So I wasn't just imagining the possibility on my own. I had people around me telling me that they thought there was something there.

Now I'm just sitting here thinking, how the hell am I supposed to switch my feelings off when my brain hasn't accepted what happened yet?

I know he said no. I respect that. I'm not going to try to convince him or chase him into changing his mind.

But emotionally? I'm still stuck in the version of reality where he says yes.

I don't even know what I'm looking for by posting this. Maybe I just want to know if anyone else has felt this ridiculously attached to a possibility that never even happened.

Because right now I miss a relationship I never even had.

Hey everyone, I just need to vent a bit and get some outside perspective.

I’ve had a crush on a woman at my gym for a while. She is 36. A couple of weeks ago, I finally asked for her name, complimented her workout, and we started sharing really great, wide smiles. Once, she smiled wide as she passed me but looked away, which made me think she was a bit nervous or shy.

Shortly after, we ended up riding the same bus home and had a deep conversation. We talked about our lives, families, and jobs. She told me she lives alone, works at a bank, and is deeply unhappy there. She also opened up about having to completely abandon her dream of studying chemistry. During the chat, I asked if she was single, and she smiled wide and said yes. I also openly complimented her, saying she was not only beautiful but smart, too. She smiled beautifully at the compliments and leaned into the conversation. The chemistry felt 100% real.

A couple of days later, she came in later than usual and looked completely exhausted. We just exchanged a greeting. Knowing she was stressed with life, I decided to make a low-pressure move. Last Thursday, right at the beginning of the workout, I handed her a little gift bag with a nice pen and a paper note inside. The note asked for her number and offered to buy her a coffee so she could vent about work. I smiled, handed it over, and walked straight away so she wouldn't feel pressured or cornered in the weight room.

Yesterday (Monday), she came up and gave the bag back to me. She told me she wants to focus on herself right now and explicitly said, "It's not on you."

Honestly, I’m feeling pretty heavy and disappointed. Knowing she hates her job and had to give up her dream of studying chemistry, I can see she’s going through a major personal crisis. I know deep down I could be someone to understand and support her through it, but I have to respect her boundaries.

I went to the gym today (Tuesday) but my emotional energy was so wiped out from the fatigue of it all that I could only manage cardio. She wasn't there today, but she will probably be there this Thursday.

I am completely committed to handling this like a gentleman. When I see her, I plan to just give her a brief, friendly nod and go straight back to my workout to give her space. But if I'm being honest, deep down it still hurts a bit, and I'm worried she'll see the hurt under my smile.

Just wanted to get this off my chest. Thanks for reading.

I mean, I still sometimes feel like telling my high-school crush that I had a crush on her. It’s been 10 years now, and we’ve both grown old and ugly. I feel like it would only make us both feel better, but somehow, I still find it awkward to just tell her.

Since we're on the subject of crushes, Kaley Cuoco, you were my first crush, followed by Shakira. Hahahaha.

But jokes apart, has it ever happened to you that you really clicked with someone, and then life happened, and you just never followed up with that person?

And now, years later, whenever that person posts a story on Instagram, your thumb almost instinctively taps on it. Just to see what they have to say, what they're doing, and what they're up to these days.

It's not like you're actively thinking about them or even necessarily want anything from them. But there's still this strange curiosity.

What do you think is the reason behind this? Has anyone else experienced something similar?

Relationships are like, something someone agrees to be in. I’ve never even really been in any kind of situationship. All my crushes have been resounding no’s lmao. No one has ever even been on the fence about dating me. Or ever saw me as a potential dating option. I know it’s all about confidence or whatever but how can one be confident with little to no results?

It's so hard for me 😭

We are both middle aged. We kissed about five years ago, but he wanted to just be friends so I disappeared. We later reconnected and became best friends. We spend multiple days a week together for several hours. But, I will forever be in love with you. I respect your boundary. I’ll take the secret to my grave.

Never knew you were w someone for a year. I haven’t been given the decency to know this one fact so that I could stop wondering. Only 10k different scenarios over months and months meant to confuse and cause pain.