What do you do when you’re in love with your best friend. Extremely long story short: my best friend and I met at work and she immediately started flirting with me. We eventually dated for about three months before she realized that she couldn’t commit. We continued talking afterwords like we normally did, but then the texting bc one-sided and the responses became slower. And then I found out that she was dating her emotionally abusive ex who also cheated on her multiple times.

I was devastated.

We didn’t talk for months and she got into a bad headspace dating this girl. We became friends again and she admitted that she still had feelings for me and part of the reason she broke up with me is bc she “liked me too much”. She wanted to be single a while to find herself. Then her ex came back, she caved, and then felt stuck in this toxic relationship bc it was all she knew. Eventually, surprise surprise, she caught her ex in a lie and they broke up.

I was the person she confided in. The first one she texted immediately after it happened. Since then, I’ve been her rock. I’ve kept her busy, she vents to me, drinks with me, and we hang out all weekend together. We have slept together a few times and we flirt consistently, but other than that....nothing is happening between us.

The only thing that’s happening is that my heart is breaking every day. Bc I’m so incredibly in love. I know the best thing to do is give myself some space, but she’s become my best friend....and also MY rock. And I’m afraid that if I leave again, she’ll get back with her ex. They still talk all the time, but I’m the one she hangs out with. It’s so stupid, but I’ve become so protective of this person. She’s literally all I think about and my day is ruined when I think about her still talking to her ex and possibly even hanging out with her. Please help.