Lovers Before Friends? Shouldn't It Be The Other Way Around?

In life, friends are everything. Whenever you need to hang out with somebody on Friday night, they are one phone call away. Whenever you have something you need to get off your chest, they'll be there to listen to you. If you want to just check on that person, they'll answer your call, even at four in the morning.

Friendship has become the most important thing in an individual's life. But what happened years ago that changed the way we look at connections?

Weeks ago, I hung out with my best friend for a day of relaxing at the swimming pool since it was blazing hot outside. We had a great day. Nothing felt more exciting than hanging out with your best friends.

Then the whole feeling turned to a different direction when my best friend told me that he liked me and wanted to date me. We've only known each other as friends for two weeks and he instantly wanted to jump into another relationship. He shared a kiss with me in order to prove it. I respected his opinion on wanting to date, but that's not what I wanted for the two of us. Through my eyes, we were great friends and nothing else. Since all of my high school buddies are across the world and all the people I used to hang out with after graduation were the people I've dated, I felt like I wanted to have a strong friendship.

When that day was over he continued expressing his feelings and it hasn't changed even till this day. I walked away from him and haven't seen him physically for a while. His opinion on our friendship was something I still needed to think about.

The next day I began thinking about friendships and relationships, mostly in the LGBT community. Whenever we meet someone new, it turns into a relationship days later. The person just jumped past the friendship barrier and continued with dating. It's like friendship never even happened for the last few days. I've seen it happen to alot of my friends. I did that before once in my life.

Whenever I met someone new, it would turn into a relationship immediately. I never got the time to know this person as a friend, I jumped the broom and instantly went to dating. Now that I'm single and alone with none of my friends around, I began to develop new friendships.

When it comes to knowing a person, how did it change from a stranger that turns into your boyfriend the next day?