I (20F) and my friend (35M) fell in love a few months ago.
Yes, I know how that sounds. If I heard anyone say that a year ago, I would have been extremely creeped out, which is likely how you’re feeling. We’re not idiots and we know that if we were to try to be together, we’d have everything and everyone going against us.
We met through a mutual friend who’s his age. We both have very niche hobbies, especially for our area. Our mutual friend convinced him to try out my hobby, and he loved it. I asked him to teach me his hobby, and I loved it.
We bonded instantly. We started sending each other videos and memes about our hobbies, and that eventually turned into us messaging every day. When I’m with him I feel so safe and happy. We can talk for hours about anything, or we can sit in silence and feel just as comfortable.
One night, months after we met, he panicked and blurted out how he felt. He was so scared because he didn’t want to ruin our friendship, and he obviously knows what a barrier our age difference is. I promise you this isn’t a situation where an older guys is into a younger girl just for her body. He told me he loved me before we ever came close to kissing, and we have never been completely physical. It took me a few more days to have the guts to tell him I felt the same way.
He cares about me so much, and he shows it even in the littlest ways. He knows my favourites of everything, and remembers everything about my friends. When I lost a loved one and he couldn’t be there, he called me as much as possible to listen to me rant. He took the time to watch my favourite TV show, even though I’m not convinced he liked it. I can see how he lights up every time we hold hands. He’s so funny, adventurous, creative, and kind. He would seriously do anything to help anyone.
We want to do everything together and be with each other all the time. We’re so scared about how people would react to our age difference, especially my parents. He says he loves how close I am with my family, and it would kill him if he caused a strain in that relationship. I wish people could see how much we genuinely care for each other. My question is… do you think there’s any way I could tell my parents, and they’d accept it?
Edited to add: He recently went away for a bit and he suggested we take some time apart to get over each other, which I agreed was a good idea. When he got back, we kept our distance, but eventually ended up meeting because of mutual friends. Yesterday we had a long talk about how our feelings haven’t changed, and how stressed we are. That’s what led me to write this post.