u/Mammoth-Stranger3967

Hi, I have been a little confused about a situation that I encountered recently, and I don’t know where else to ask for advice.

I (22F) have been friends with this guy (22 M) for almost four years in college now, but I would say we’re mostly friends in the group. We don’t really hang out much outside of the group, but I would still consider him a really good friend and probably one of my closest male friends.

My main confusion comes from what happened a couple of nights ago. My friend proposed the idea of us going out together because he wasn’t able to show up to the previous plans the group made, and he felt bad about it. This was partly because we were texting about other things, and I brought up coordinating when we were free so we could hang out. However, I genuinely thought a hang out meant hanging out with the group.

He asked me if I was free that night, and I said I was, but there was no follow up afterwards, so I assumed he was busy or forgot. However, he showed up at my apartment later that night, a little drunk from some previous activities, and insisted we go out because he felt bad. Although I was a little confused, I agreed because we were graduating soon.

We went out, and as expected, the city was dead because it was a weekday. We went on a bar crawl, and I got a little drunk, which was a first time experience for me even though it wasn’t my first time drinking.

I felt like we started the night as “bros”, chugging beer and making jokes, and at some point we started talking about our personalities and childhood and futures, and we ended up walking to this river downtown and sitting. In the beginning of the night, he kept the distance he normally keeps with me, but as the night progressed (and maybe we got more drunk), he became a lot more affectionate.

He would put his hand on my knee or my arm, maintain eye contact, and he eventually just fully held my hand as we walked. He was very protective and focused on what I was saying, paid for everything, sand constantly complimenting me. I was pretty drunk at this point, and I didn’t push him away, probably also because he wasn’t making me uncomfortable or anything. He was still respectful overall and nice.

I want to try to describe how he was, as in, my hand was pretty limp because I was drunk and yapping my ass off, but he would purposefully tighten his hold on it, and play with my fingers and draw shapes in my palm. We came home super late, and I had to force him to leave because he didn’t want to.

Overall, I guess my (dumb) question is, what does this mean? My friends said that he’s just a normally affectionate guy, but is this really normal behavior, even for affectionate people? My friends have given me the impression that I’m making a big deal out of nothing, but I want to know if I’m encouraging this behavior in any sort of way. Although I admire and care for this guy deeply, it wouldn’t make sense for us to start dating. I don’t want to assume too many things and bring this up as some uncomfortable topic right before we graduate, so I’m trying to understand this independently first.

TL;DR: My male friend and I went out alone for the first time, got drunk, he became super affectionate and touchy-feely when there was no indication of anything between us before this, and I’m confused about what this could mean.

Hi, I have been a little confused about a situation that I encountered recently, and I don’t know where else to ask for advice.

I (22F) have been friends with this guy (22 M) for almost four years in college now, but I would say we’re mostly friends in the group. We don’t really hang out much outside of the group, but I would still consider him a really good friend and probably one of my closest male friends.

My main confusion comes from what happened a couple of nights ago. My friend proposed the idea of us going out together because he wasn’t able to show up to the previous plans the group made, and he felt bad about it. This was partly because we were texting about other things, and I brought up coordinating when we were free so we could hang out. However, I genuinely thought a hang out meant hanging out with the group.

He asked me if I was free that night, and I said I was, but there was no follow up afterwards, so I assumed he was busy or forgot. However, he showed up at my apartment later that night, a little drunk from some previous activities, and insisted we go out because he felt bad. Although I was a little confused, I agreed because we were graduating soon.

We went out, and as expected, the city was dead because it was a weekday. We went on a bar crawl, and I got a little drunk, which was a first time experience for me even though it wasn’t my first time drinking.

I felt like we started the night as “bros”, chugging beer and making jokes, and at some point we started talking about our personalities and childhood and futures, and we ended up walking to this river downtown and sitting. In the beginning of the night, he kept the distance he normally keeps with me, but as the night progressed (and maybe we got more drunk), he became a lot more affectionate.

He would put his hand on my knee or my arm, maintain eye contact, and he eventually just fully held my hand as we walked. He was very protective and focused on what I was saying, paid for everything, sand constantly complimenting me. I was pretty drunk at this point, and I didn’t push him away, probably also because he wasn’t making me uncomfortable or anything. He was still respectful overall and nice.

I want to try to describe how he was, as in, my hand was pretty limp because I was drunk and yapping my ass off, but he would purposefully tighten his hold on it, and play with my fingers and draw shapes in my palm. We came home super late, and I had to force him to leave because he didn’t want to.

Overall, I guess my (dumb) question is, why would he be behaving like this if he’s not interested romantically? My friends said that he’s just a normally affectionate guy, but is this really normal behavior, even for affectionate people? My friends have given me the impression that I’m making a big deal out of nothing, but I want to know if I’m encouraging this behavior in any sort of way. Although I admire and care for this guy deeply, it wouldn’t make sense for us to start dating. I don’t want to assume too many things and bring this up as some uncomfortable topic right before we graduate, so I’m trying to understand this independently first.

TL;DR: My male friend and I went out alone for the first time, got drunk, he became super affectionate and touchy-feely when there was no indication of anything between us before this, and I’m confused about what this could mean.

Hi, I have been a little confused about a situation that I encountered recently, and I don’t know where else to ask for advice.

I (22F) have been friends with this guy (22 M) for almost four years in college now, but I would say we’re mostly friends in the group. We don’t really hang out much outside of the group, but I would still consider him a really good friend and probably one of my closest male friends.

My main confusion comes from what happened a couple of nights ago. My friend proposed the idea of us going out together because he wasn’t able to show up to the previous plans the group made, and he felt bad about it. This was partly because we were texting about other things, and I brought up coordinating when we were free so we could hang out. However, I genuinely thought a hang out meant hanging out with the group.

He asked me if I was free that night, and I said I was, but there was no follow up afterwards, so I assumed he was busy or forgot. However, he showed up at my apartment later that night, a little drunk from some previous activities, and insisted we go out because he felt bad. Although I was a little confused, I agreed because we were graduating soon.

We went out, and as expected, the city was dead because it was a weekday. We went on a bar crawl, and I got a little drunk, which was a first time experience for me even though it wasn’t my first time drinking.

I felt like we started the night as “bros”, chugging beer and making jokes, and at some point we started talking about our personalities and childhood and futures, and we ended up walking to this river downtown and sitting. In the beginning of the night, he kept the distance he normally keeps with me, but as the night progressed (and maybe we got more drunk), he became a lot more affectionate.

He would put his hand on my knee or my arm, maintain eye contact, and he eventually just fully held my hand as we walked. He was very protective and focused on what I was saying, paid for everything, sand constantly complimenting me. I was pretty drunk at this point, and I didn’t push him away, probably also because he wasn’t making me uncomfortable or anything. He was still respectful overall and nice.

I want to try to describe how he was, as in, my hand was pretty limp because I was drunk and yapping my ass off, but he would purposefully tighten his hold on it, and play with my fingers and draw shapes in my palm. We came home super late, and I had to force him to leave because he didn’t want to.

Overall, I guess my (dumb) question is, what does this mean? My friends said that he’s just a normally affectionate guy, but is this really normal behavior, even for affectionate people? My friends have given me the impression that I’m making a big deal out of nothing, but I want to know if I’m encouraging this behavior in any sort of way. Although I admire and care for this guy deeply, it wouldn’t make sense for us to start dating. I don’t want to assume too many things and bring this up as some uncomfortable topic right before we graduate, so I’m trying to understand this independently first.

TL;DR: My male friend and I went out alone for the first time, got drunk, he became super affectionate and touchy-feely when there was no indication of anything between us before this, and I’m confused about what this could mean.

Hi, I have been a little confused about a situation that I encountered recently, and I don’t know where else to ask for advice.

I (22F) have been friends with this guy (22 M) for almost four years in college now, but I would say we’re mostly friends in the group. We don’t really hang out much outside of the group, but I would still consider him a really good friend and probably one of my closest male friends.

My main confusion comes from what happened a couple of nights ago. My friend propose the idea of us going out together because he wasn’t able to show up to the previous plans the group made, and he felt bad about it. This was partly because we were texting about other things, and I brought up coordinating when we were free so we could hang out. However, I genuinely thought a hang out meant hanging out with the group.

He asked me if I was free that night, and I said I was, but there was no follow up afterwards, so I assumed he was busy or forgot. However, he showed up at my apartment later that night, a little drunk from some previous activities, and insisted we go out because he felt bad. Although I was a little confused, I agreed because we were graduating soon.

We went out, and as expected, the city was dead because it was a weekday. We went on a bar crawl, and I got a little drunk, which was a first time experience for me even though it wasn’t my first time drinking.

I felt like we started the night as “bros”, chugging beer and making jokes, and at some point we started talking about our personalities and childhood and futures, and we ended up walking to this river downtown and sitting. In the beginning of the night, he kept the distance he normally keeps with me, but as the night progressed (and maybe we got more drunk), he became a lot more affectionate.

He would put his hand on my knee or my arm, maintain eye contact, and he eventually just fully held my hand as we walked. He was very protective and focused on what I was saying, and constantly complimenting me. I was pretty drunk at this point, and I didn’t push him away, probably also because he wasn’t making me uncomfortable or anything. He was still respectful overall and nice.

I want to try to describe how he was, as in, my hand was pretty limp because I was drunk and yapping my ass off, but he would purposefully tighten his hold on it, and play with my fingers and draw shapes in my palm. We came home super late, and I had to force him to leave because he didn’t want to.

Overall, I guess my (dumb) question is, what does this mean? My friends said that he’s just a normally affectionate guy, but is this really normal behavior, even for affectionate people? I don’t want to assume too many things and bring this up as some uncomfortable topic right before we graduate, so I’m trying to understand this independently first.

TL;DR: My male friend and I went out alone for the first time, got drunk, and he became super affectionate and touchy-feely when there was no indication of anything between us before this. Please help me understand what this could mean.

Hi, I have been a little confused about a situation that I encountered recently, and I don’t know where else to ask for advice.

I (22F) have been friends with this guy (22 M) for almost four years in college now, but I would say we’re mostly friends in the group. We don’t really hang out much outside of the group, but I would still consider him a really good friend and probably one of my closest male friends.

My main confusion comes from what happened a couple of nights ago. My friend propose the idea of us going out together because he wasn’t able to show up to the previous plans the group made, and he felt bad about it. This was partly because we were texting about other things, and I brought up coordinating when we were free so we could hang out. However, I genuinely thought a hang out meant hanging out with the group.

He asked me if I was free that night, and I said I was, but there was no follow up afterwards, so I assumed he was busy or forgot. However, he showed up at my apartment later that night, a little drunk from some previous activities, and insisted we go out because he felt bad. Although I was a little confused, I agreed because we were graduating soon.

We went out, and as expected, the city was dead because it was a weekday. We went on a bar crawl, and I got a little drunk, which was a first time experience for me even though it wasn’t my first time drinking.

I felt like we started the night as “bros”, chugging beer and making jokes, and at some point we started talking about our personalities and childhood and futures, and we ended up walking to this river downtown and sitting. In the beginning of the night, he kept the distance he normally keeps with me, but as the night progressed (and maybe we got more drunk), he became a lot more affectionate.

He would put his hand on my knee or my arm, maintain eye contact, and he eventually just fully held my hand as we walked. He was very protective and focused on what I was saying, and constantly complimenting me. I was pretty drunk at this point, and I didn’t push him away, probably also because he wasn’t making me uncomfortable or anything. He was still respectful overall and nice.

I want to try to describe how he was, as in, my hand was pretty limp because I was drunk and yapping my ass off, but he would purposefully tighten his hold on it, and play with my fingers and draw shapes in my palm. We came home super late, and I had to force him to leave because he didn’t want to.

Overall, I guess my (dumb) question is, what does this mean? My friends said that he’s just a normally affectionate guy, but is this really normal behavior, even for affectionate people? I don’t want to assume too many things and bring this up as some uncomfortable topic right before we graduate, so I’m trying to understand this independently first.

TL;DR: My male friend and I went out alone for the first time, got drunk, and he became super affectionate and touchy-feely when there was no indication of anything between us before this. Is this a non-issue or is there something more to this?