Should I tell my friend I have feelings for her?
I (24M) have been friends with this girl (29F) for over 3 years.
I remember how we met and how immediately we hit it off. She made the first move in starting a conversation with me and it felt like she was genuinely interested in getting to know me. Over the years she has become my closest friend, my best friend. We hung out a lot, talked and messaged almost every day, and saw each other multiple times a month sometimes every other week.
She has been through some pretty hard things while we’ve known each other including issues with her sister and her mom’s mental health. I’ve had my own rough patches too and the fact that we’ve been there for each other through all of it isn’t something I’ll ever forget. She’s been truly wonderful and someone I’ve come to deeply care about.
While I was attracted to her when we first met, I held back because I felt she’d never take me seriously given the age gap. That said there have been moments between us that have always stuck with me. She’s said things like “if you were older maybe we’d be here under a different context” over dinner, jokingly agreed to marry me when I complimented her, and pointed out guys who look like me when she found them attractive. Small things like through out the friendship and they’ve always stayed with me.
The more I’ve gotten to know her the stronger my feelings have become. She’s been away for the past year doing her masters in the UK. We still talk regularly, and when she’s visited home we’ve made plans and spent time together. She’s interacted and talked to other guys during our friendship and recently. It didn’t make me jealous exactly, just sad that it wasn’t me. The recent one she told me about pushed me to want to be honest with her about how I feel.
TL DR
I was planning to tell her how I feel when she’s back in August, but after our recent call I felt the urge during that time to say something. Now I’m not sure if I should wait until she’s back or get this off my chest. My broader hesitation is the age gap and the fact that I’m still establishing myself in life while she has some things figured out. Any advice on how to approach the conversation would be really appreciated.