So you’ve finally met an awesome guy and you’re dying to tell the entire world. You feel like your bad dating luck is turning around and you’re so excited, you could literally skip down the street. There’s only one problem: he’s not officially your boyfriend — at least, not yet — and it makes things kind of awkward.
- You have no idea when to tell people about him. Do you text your BFF that you finally had a good first, second, or third date? You know she’ll be super happy for you and that she deserves to know — after all, she’s been there from the very beginning of your dating journey. But is that jumping the gun? When is the right time to tell the people in your life that you’ve met a great guy and are dating him? You have no idea and it seriously drives you crazy.
- You get your hopes up and then hate yourself for it. You’ve been here a few times: that awkward in-between phase of being someone’s girlfriend and just being a girl that this guy is seeing. You always get your hopes up because you want to believe that a relationship is finally on the horizon. Then you feel bad for not being more realistic since you know that sometimes, things don’t work out.
- You want to be all in but something stops you. You know that you only live once and there’s no point pretending that you don’t care about someone when you do. You’ve been waiting for this moment all your single AF life so you might as well enjoy it, right? The problem is that no matter how much you want to just give into your feelings for this new guy, you’re putting a bit of a wall up. You can’t help but wonder when something weird is going to happen to ruin everything.
- You act like his girlfriend. You text him good luck before a big meeting. You make dinner for him on Friday nights. You think about him morning, noon and night and you factor him into your future plans near and far. There’s only one catch: you’re not his girlfriend and he’s not your boyfriend. So why does it feel like you already play those roles?
- You struggle with what you’re allowed to do. Do you invite him to your best friend’s birthday party? What about your work event or a family gathering? You’re not sure what would be considered moving way too fast and what’s just a necessary part of moving a new relationship forward. It’s definitely confusing.
- You still behave like a single woman. Because, well, that’s still what you are. You can still spend hours upon hours binging a girly show. You can still meet your best friends for drinks because you have nothing to do on a Saturday night (since you’re not seeing this guy 24/7 yet). It feels insanely awkward since it’s like you’re half single and half coupled up.
- You wonder how long you’re going to live separate lives. Maybe you’ve met each other’s friends and families by this point. Maybe you haven’t. Either way, you haven’t really spent time with the people that mean the most to both of you, and that means that you’re still living separate lives. You wonder how long you’re going to keep this up and it gives you a pretty big headache whenever you think about it.
- You don’t know when to have “The Talk.” You don’t want to pressure him and you want things to move forward naturally, but at the same time, you feel like enough is enough. You want to be a real, official couple and you can’t wait any longer. But when are you supposed to have the all-important talk? It’s a pretty big struggle.
- You’re jealous of couples. You would think that you wouldn’t feel your like old single green-eyed monster self since you’re one step closer to finally having the relationship that you’ve been dreaming of. But, since you’re not official with this new guy yet, you’re jealous of people who have what you want. You can’t start living any of the milestones that you’ve been waiting for.
- You feel like something is missing. Because, well, something is. You’re not each other’s BF and GF. It’s not super real yet, and the most awkward thing of all is that you and this guy might never become an actual couple. All signs might point to yes and there might be no red flags whatsoever, but you’ve been here enough times and you know that crap happens. All you can do is try your best to say goodbye to your single status and make this thing finally work, but it’s still going to be awkward. There’s nothing you can do about that.
