Dear Harlan: My best friend, who lives across the street from me, recently confessed that he is in love with me. It happened after our first harmless kiss in years. We were both drunk. We used to make out when we were younger. We explored it together, and it was harmless. Then suddenly we kiss and he professes his love to me. It terrified me. I love him, but not like that. Then, last week, it happened again. We were drunk. We pretend it hasn’t happened, but I don’t know what to do. I selfishly don’t want to lose him because he’s my rock. But he deserves so much more. Now what?
Pretending
Dear Pretending: You’re an awful friend. This guy confesses his love for you, and then you continue to get drunk and kiss him? You must be lonely, have an extremely low self-image of yourself, secretly love him or have a drinking problem. Before you put up more walls, ask him what he loves about you. Listen. Then, work to be the person he knows you can be. The problem isn’t that he loves you, it’s that you don’t love yourself.