Relationships Are Odd Business

I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out. I don't want to rush into things just because I'm pretty inexperienced. How long do people "talk" before they decide to get into an actual relationship? How many dates do you go out on, especially if you don't know the other person as well? How do you get enough courage to tell a person that you really like them, and it's not just some little crush? You know the crush- when you rarely talk to the person, and you find them quite attractive, but you hardly know anything about them or they barely know you exist. I can safely say that I've moved on from those types of crushes. Actually, I wouldn't even call what feelings I have for most guys "crushes" anymore. I have genuine feelings, ya know. I don't want to obsess over a relationship, and I hope that whatever guy ends up being my first boyfriend or fifth boyfriend or husband realizes that. I'm not trying to say that the relationship isn't important to me, but I want he and I to be able to lead our separate lives as well. I don't want to spend every waking moment with my guy or have to tell him where I am 24/7 or anything like that. I don't want to get tired of him or feel like he's being the jealous type because I went out with my friends and didn't invite him. As I've been told, I'm a pretty chill girl. I'd like to stick to that too because that's just how I am.

So, while I'm stuck in this position where there may be two guys who have feelings for me, I must make decisions. One guy has already openly admitted that he definitely likes me and feels a connection; the other guy seems like a mystery, so I cannot confirm that actually likes me and just doesn't want to be friends. I'm happy with being friends with both of these guys, but I don't want it to be awkward between the first guy and I because he admitted to liking me. It takes a ton of courage to do what he did, and I admire him for that, plus I like him too. At this point, we could just jump right into a relationship, but I don't want to rush into things and have things go badly because we didn't wait longer to make sure our feelings were true and not just illusions for the moment. I want things to work, but I don't want to get my hopes up when disappointment could be right around the corner.

As my title states, relationships are odd business indeed.