How would you act if you've just rejected a girl you've been friends with for 10+ years?

[archanimal92]

Let's say (hypothetically... lol), that a girl pulled you aside privately to have the conversation to see if there was interest to hang out one on one to see if there was feelings there beyond friendship because she felt there might be and didn't want to misread things.

As a guy wanting clarity, you asked, "do you actually like me or something?", because you were confused and weren't sure where this was coming from since you two never hung out one-on-one). After she clarified wanting to know if it was more than friends and to see if the feeling was mutual, your reply to her was "I'm afraid I don't feel the same way."

She took it gracefully, said "no worries, it doesn't have to be awkward between us" etc. and you both returned to the group setting having normal conversation, although later that evening, it did become a bit awkward when passing by each other.

How do you treat this friendship from here? Keep in mind there might only be 1 in person group hangout/month from here on out, and most interaction would be online. Would you still consistently like her online posts/view stories like before? Would you back away? What would you do?

[Anonymous]

It depends how she's handling it. Rejection sucks! The last thing you want to do is twist the knife. When i was younger i never even considered a woman could be hurt by me rejecting her. I mean c'mon, she's got options, probably much better than me. As i got older i realized whether that's true or not if she thought that, she wouldn't have asked me out. And some people are ok remaining friends after rejection, some aren't. You have to kind of go by her. It took me till i was much older to handle rejection. When i was young my ego couldn't take it. As long as i know she wasn't just gaming me (and if that's the case why would i want to be her friend😆), then i'm ok with remaining friends. Because her rejection is just her rejection. It's NOT personal and does not diminish me in any way.

If i could tell anyone experiencing rejection in any way it would be this.

[slatyb]

Were they dating and broke up? Or are they friends and she asked for more and he declined?

[archanimal92]

Just friends and wanting to see if there could potentially be more

[slatyb]

They will treat her as it was before. More often after someone rejects our advances, we withdraw because being around them is too painful.

[MissSunshine2]

From my experience, one was really lovely. His name was Tim. He tried to be interested in me but he just wasn't. It's not anyone on here. He told me that he has always loved me a lot and unconditionally, just not romantically. There was no spark on his end. We're still the best of friends today.

[Nikki1989]

That is all about his maturity level. Sadly many immature men will pull out the "no contact" card. They can't remain friends with someone that they were once "friends" with. It is a mental illness, really.

[bowenw]

Usually that is the end of all contact.

[archanimal92]

Even if it was an adult conversation where both were honest? It’s no reason to end the friendship just because someone shot their shot, right?

[bowenw]

It would depend on the circumstances. If they were friends and one said they had feelings for the other, they could go back to being friends.

[RavVid]

It depends on what she DID.

[WhitneySnow]

Depends on the guy. How were you treated?

[Anonymous]

Both should go their own way

[Ariesman81Nshiiit]

Indifferent