Sex and relationships: falling for your flatmate

“It’s not that I like her, but it’s happening.” I tried my best to hide it, but I knew that confusion and dismay was written all over my face. What the HELL is that supposed to mean?!

He was just a challenge, but eventually- to my horror- I ended up falling for the guy, which made this practical rejection all the more bitter; well it was rejection in my eyes. When you’re in the “moment” and your conquest nonchalantly tells you that it’s still “happening” with some girl he sees like, once a week, you start to realise that things aren’t going to go quite as smoothly as you thought they would!

This wasn’t just one random night of craziness; it was weeks of hanging out with him, getting to know him, etc, etc, etc- not to mention the minute detail of constantly talking myself out of jumping on his hotness every waking hour! And it’s not like I could even curl up on the sofa with my duvet and hide in my shame forever… well, unless I didn’t mind sharing it- because I LIVED with the guy!

Which begs the question- when is it all right to show a not-so-platonic interest in your roommate, or is it ever a good idea?

You may think from what I’ve divulged so far that my opinion on this is fairly obvious; but since we’re living in the Real World here, I do realise that these kinds of situations are never black and white.

Let me begin by making it clear that I do not regret ‘hooking-up’ with Dillan*- if you ever seen this hot ass you’d know exactly what I mean! But the sheer awkwardness and the whole deal of us never being quite as close friends afterwards, would definitely make me think twice if I was ever tempted to do it again. When the harsh light of day hits you and you can’t even look at each other, it certainly makes you wonder if the move you made, while under the influence of a few too many glasses of encouragement, was such a good idea after all!

These are our college years, the time for us all to go crazy and experience as much as we can during our three or four short years that we have here. Take it all in, I say, life is to be enjoyed; but should it be ‘enjoyed’ on our own doorstep?

Tread carefully, because situations like this are not to be dealt with light-heartedly. If it’s just for fun, make sure the feeling is mutual; if you like them, think about what it would be like being in each other’s faces every day (and not in the fun way); and if they’re a friend, would you risk losing that for one night of bliss?

*not real name…