I am finding myself feeling very confused. I met a friend about a year ago and we have become very close. So close that we have been able to share extremely deep things about our lives and experiences. While very hard, we've shared our vulnerabilities. Laughed, cried, and been there for one another through some very hard things.

I am just feeling very confused. It has been a really long time since I've had a friend be this close. Up until recently, I have felt as if we were just extremely close friends. Then all of a sudden I felt something a bit different. We were sharing a moment and I felt as if on some level I had fallen in love with her.

We're both females, and she has a boyfriend. We both identify as straight. But I'm trying to figure out what I am feeling. But more importantly, I'm trying to figure her out. Her boyfriend lives out of state, quite far, so perhaps she's just looking to fill the void that this has left for physical touch. I don't know.

We touch all of the time. Not sexually, but hand holding, hugging cuddling, laying in my lap, walking arm in arm, we sometimes kiss each other's foreheads and hands depending on what we've been talking about, which is usually something deep. We sometimes fall asleep together, holding hands or just laying close. When we stay at each other's houses we usually sleep together in the same bed. This morning as we were cuddling she kept playing with my ear. In fact, she bit it. Not to hurt me, but it was playful. More than once. And we just laid there. Holding each other.

I guess I'm just confused. When we first started becoming close friends, I didn't mind that she laid up against me while we were on the couch and stuff, and I guess I don't really mind the rest of what she's done that I've written. She's not making me uncomfortable. What's bothering me is that I feel like this is turning into something more, but I think I'm just confused. She keeps insisting that she needs physical touch from the people that she loves in her life, but this level of touch is something that I'm not used to ever experiencing in my friendships.

So at this point I think I am just trying to discern what is going on in our friendship. I love her and she has said that she loves me too. Up until recently it has just been as friends, but this keeps escalating and I feel like it's turning into something else. At least for me it is. I'm not interested in her sexually, but I just feel like I might have fallen in love with her on some level. But I'm not sure. Does anyone have any insights or advice to share? Am I just over thinking this?

This is new for me so I would be extremely appreciative for any words.