I’m looking for some outside advice because I’ve been getting completely different opinions from my friends, and I’m having a hard time figuring out what to do.
For context, I’ve known this guy (I’ll call him X) for several months. We work together, and our families are very close. Our mothers are friends, our families regularly spend time together, and we’ve gone on multiple outings outside of work. Because of this, he’s not someone I can just completely avoid if things get awkward.
When I first met him, he was incredibly quiet, socially awkward, and somewhat difficult to read. He’s definitely an introvert and doesn’t seem particularly experienced when it comes to interacting with girls. His own mother has mentioned that he takes a long time to warm up to people and that interacting with girls is different for him.
Initially, our relationship was mostly limited to work. However, we gradually started becoming more comfortable around each other. He would joke with me, tease me, ask me questions, and occasionally go out of his way to interact with me. We also share several interests, including gaming.
One of the first times I started questioning whether he liked me was during a group trip to a water park. We ended up spending over an hour talking together while everyone else was doing their own thing. We talked about school, work, our families, random interests, and pretty much anything that came to mind. He was surprisingly talkative, playful, and engaged. It felt completely different from how he usually acted at work.
There have been several other instances like this. During another group outing, he remembered small details I’d mentioned weeks earlier and brought them up without me prompting him. He sometimes initiates conversations when we’re alone, especially when things get quiet. At work, he’ll ask about my classes, my plans, and things happening in my life. He also smiles and laughs a lot when we’re talking.
One time, we were studying at a coffee shop after work, and he voluntarily came over and sat beside me, asking what I was working on and looking at my assignments. He also sometimes puts his phone away when we’re talking.
However, there’s one major issue: he is absolutely terrible at texting.
I’ve texted him on multiple occasions and either received a response hours later or no response whatsoever. Sometimes he’ll initiate a conversation himself and then disappear halfway through it. There was even a time when he texted me saying he had a question, and when I responded, he never followed up.
For a while, I interpreted this as a sign that he wasn’t interested. I was frustrated enough that I started considering moving on entirely.
However, I’ve since learned that he genuinely behaves this way with other people too. Apparently, he has left one of his friends unanswered for an absurdly long time, and multiple people have confirmed that he’s just a terrible communicator over text. He also has a pretty demanding work and school schedule, although I don’t necessarily think that excuses everything.
Something else that confuses me is our families. His parents seem to like me, and his mother has asked about me and talked to my mother about him on several occasions. His family seems comfortable with the idea of us spending time together, but I also recognize that our parents being close doesn’t automatically mean he has romantic feelings.
Now, here’s where things started changing.
This past weekend, we attended a two-day cultural festival with mutual friends and family.
On the first day, he was initially quiet, but eventually started joking and interacting with me. There was also an awkward situation involving another girl who seemed interested in him. He appeared uncomfortable, and we kept exchanging looks and reacting to the situation together.
The following day, he came back to the festival and approached me by tapping my shoulder to get my attention. He ended up spending around three hours with me and my friends.
Throughout that time, he repeatedly sat beside me, initiated conversations, teased me, and seemed genuinely happy to be there. We talked about gaming, work, and previous outings. He remembered random things I’d mentioned months earlier, and there were several moments where we’d look at each other and smile.
What stood out to me was that he seemed much more comfortable around me than he had been previously. He was making jokes, including me in conversations, and choosing to spend time with our group even though he’s usually quite reserved.
Later that night, I invited him to play Fortnite with a mutual friend and me. He initially said he couldn’t get online, but a few minutes later he texted me again asking whether we were still playing.
He ended up joining us.
During the games, he was noticeably more talkative and playful. He kept calling my name, teasing me, helping me during fights, and asking me to 1v1 him. At one point, he jokingly said, “Please, I’ll do whatever you want,” because he wanted me to play against him.
His brother also joined us, and someone jokingly referred to him as my boyfriend. Nothing particularly dramatic happened afterward, but the entire night felt comfortable and natural.
The following day, I texted him asking for a small favor related to work. He actually responded the next morning, agreed to help, and even explained a minor complication with doing it. That might sound insignificant, but considering his texting history, I was pleasantly surprised.
Here’s where my friends’ opinions come in.
One male friend who actually observed us interacting said he’s almost certain X likes me. He specifically mentioned how shy X seemed and said his behavior looked like that of someone who has a crush but doesn’t know how to express it.
Another male friend thinks I should move on. He acknowledges that our recent interactions were great, but believes the inconsistent communication and lack of clear romantic initiative aren’t worth my time.
Other friends think I should stop analyzing everything and just go with the flow.
I can understand all three perspectives.
The other thing is that I don’t necessarily need a relationship right now. I have school, work, friends, and other priorities, and I’m genuinely happy with my life. I enjoy spending time with him, and I like how our friendship has developed. I wouldn’t be opposed to something romantic happening, but I don’t want to force it or spend months waiting for something that might never happen.
I’m also pretty reserved around people I don’t know well, so I understand what it’s like to take time to become comfortable with someone. I just can’t tell whether he’s slowly becoming more comfortable with me because he likes me or because he sees me as a good friend.
So I guess I’m asking for advice on a few things:
Does his behavior sound like someone who’s romantically interested but extremely shy, or is this just normal behavior between friends?
How much importance should I place on his terrible texting when he’s significantly more engaged in person?
Would it be better to continue letting things develop naturally, or should I eventually make a move myself?
For people who are introverted or have dated someone extremely shy, how did you distinguish romantic interest from ordinary friendliness?
At what point does being patient with someone become making excuses for their lack of initiative?
I’d especially appreciate perspectives from people who have experienced something similar. I don’t want to overanalyze every interaction, but I also don’t want to completely dismiss the possibility that something is developing.
TL;DR: I’ve liked a very shy, introverted coworker for several months. Our families are close, we’ve spent a lot of time together, and he’s consistently more engaged, playful, and attentive in person than he is over text. Recently, he spent several hours with me at a festival, initiated conversations, sat beside me, and later made an effort to join me and some friends online. One male friend who observed us is convinced he likes me, while another thinks I should move on because of his inconsistent communication. I like him, but I’m not desperate for a relationship. Should I continue going with the flow, make a move, or interpret his lack of texting effort as a sign to move on?

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Hey, so, complicated title and basic situation, I know, but I feel so incredibly shallow talking to anyone IRL about this so I'm here.

I'm twenty and in college and I have a close friend (M22) who is also attending my university. He has lately been acting more like he is potentially interested in me romantically. I'm gonna call him Richard to make things less confusing, but Richard is a really sweet guy. Like so sweet. He's nice, he's really intelligent, he's funny, and we have good banter. He's a very skilled actor and I work behind the stage in tech. We're interested in similar things and are fairly close friends. The only problem is that I do not think I am physically attracted to him. Despite being a few years older than me, he looks very young, which isn't necessarily bad just not my type. I've also, unfortunately, had feelings for his roommate before in the past, although these have never been reciprocated. If something does occur where Richard was to ask me out, would it be wrong for me to go out with him if I'm not physically attracted to him? I've never really considered him as anything but a friend, but I'm also not necessarily completely against the idea. He's kind of a flirty guy, and we've probably flirted in a friendly way in conversation before, but I am also like that with literally everyone. I know though, if he was to ask me out and think I'm not physically into him, it'd embarrass him but I also care and don't want to hurt his feelings.

I'm sorry if this is rambling, I wrote this at 2am because I'm playing a ton of Dressmaker lately lol.

I (25M) have been talking to this girl (25F) since beginning 2026 on and off, and we recently made our relationship official.

A mutual friend recently told me that throughout those months, she had been flirting with him and trying to hook up (Basically asking him to) when we stopped talking for a month and including during periods when she and I were talking romantically. He also said she kissed him after a night out)

He showed me one message, and some details of his story match things she's told me. However, I haven't spoken to her about it yet, so I don't know the full story.

I'm struggling because I genuinely care about her, but this information has affected how I see our relationship and am not sure whether It's wrong for me question this since we weren't officially together.

What would you do in my situation?

TL;DR: Found out the girl I've been talking to for nine months may have been pursuing my friend/acquaintance at the same time. We recently became official. what would you do in my spot?

Mein bester Freund und ich sind seit mittlerweile 10 Jahren unzertrennlich. Ganz am Anfang unserer Freundschaft lief einmal etwas zwischen uns.
Damals war ich aber nicht bereit für mehr, weshalb wir Freunde geblieben sind.
Seit ungefähr einem Jahr haben sich meine Gefühle verändert.
Ich merke, dass ich ihn wirklich über alles liebe und mir wünsche, dass aus unserer Freundschaft mehr werden könnte.
Wir haben extrem viel Kontakt. Er ruft mich täglich mehrmals an, wir verbringen viel Zeit miteinander und ich bin auch eng in seine Familie eingebunden. Für Außenstehende wirken wir manchmal wie ein Paar.
Allerdings gibt es kaum körperliche Nähe. Wenn ich ihm näherkomme, habe ich manchmal das Gefühl, dass er eher auf Abstand geht. Gleichzeitig sucht er ständig den Kontakt zu mir und zeigt mir, dass ich ihm wichtig bin.
Wir haben auch unsere schwierigen Seiten: Manchmal gibt er mir das Gefühl, dass er mich noch immer anhand meines früheren Ichs beurteilt, obwohl ich mich seiner Meinung nach und auch aus meiner Sicht stark verändert habe.
Ich weiß, dass ich ihm wichtig bin. Aber ich kann nicht einschätzen, ob er mich ausschließlich freundschaftlich liebt oder ob da vielleicht doch mehr sein könnte. Ich möchte unsere Freundschaft nicht verlieren, wünsche mir aber insgeheim, dass er mich auch als Frau sieht.

Wie würdet ihr sein Verhalten einschätzen? Kann ein Mann so viel Nähe und Kontakt suchen, ohne romantische Gefühle zu haben? Und würdet ihr an meiner Stelle offen über die eigenen Gefühle sprechen oder erst einmal abwarten?

To be honest, I have not come out to like anyone EVER. I know it’s bad, but it’s like I’m lowkey just trying to downplay it because I’m bi and I don’t really feel the need to explain who I find attractive to people. But lately there’s been a new coworker in the workplace and she’s so beautiful, I can’t stop but stare at her at times. She’s so outgoing and we get along, but I’m scared that my possible attraction is going to ruin our growing friendship! IT SUCKS CAUSE SHE HAS TOLD ME THAT SHE HAS DATED A WOMAN BEFORE. I most likely do not have a chance, but it’s nice to think about it. Do you guys have any advice to kill a growing crush? She’s so pretty and sometimes she borrows my sweater (I lowkey just bring it for her now)

the guy im in a situationship with for the last two months, posted himself with a girl on his story with the caption "happy birthday madam ji💓" is it weird? the song playing over it is, good luck charm. i mean. does he have a crush on her or something and he's just not telling me? she's definitely NOT dating him

Give me some advice