I'm not sure if it constitutes flirting and where the line is, so read on and let me know.

There is a girl I really started to like. So I started talking to her, we got closer. She was very friendly, and I thought she was interested too. This wasn't within a large time span. Maybe three weeks overall.

At some point, however, it slipped by that she's got a boyfriend. Now, within our common friend group this seems to have been common knowledge. I think she expected me to know too. At this time, he's working in a separate country. I don't know the details of their relationship, but it seems they've been together for a while. I have no particular reasons to suspect it's not going well, either.

Since learning that, I haven't started seeing her less. I don't make any moves or anything like that, but we've seen a few films together, hang out in the evenings, etc, but there is some tension (and frequency) that I don't notice with my other female friends. Maybe it's my subjective perception. Overall, I'd say it's within casual flirting territory, but not too deep. I don't know how else to describe that.

Now, by itself, this situation wouldn't warrant me to post here. "Ok, sure - she hangs out with you - that her decision", etc. My problem is that *I* know why I'm there. That I want to date her, that I like her, all that. That the eye contact, the shared laughs - what those things mean to me.

And I'm unsure what to do - I don't want to stop being friends with her, I feel like there is a valuable connection that I don't have elsewhere. But I feel like a healthier thing to do would be to make some distance between us.

And what I'm doing now, is keeping on with what I've been doing. I'm trying not to cross any lines, but I do think we're getting closer slowly, as time passes. Maybe that in of itself is a line.

Let me know your opinion please. Thanks.

PS: this is a throwaway account, if that matters.

