What do you do when you're in love with your best friend?

by Megan
(USA)

I'm a girl, and my best friend is a guy. He also happens to be gay, and I also happen to be in love with him.

I thought I'd get over it when he came out...but that was several years ago. I thought I'd get over it if I gave it a little more time, but I think I just love him now more than I ever have before. If I tell him, I know he'll be hurt because there's nothing he can do about it to help me. And I'm pretty sure he has no idea that I feel this way, so I don't want to potentially upset him by telling him. I have also considered just ripping him out of my life completely.. But I don't really have any other friends who understand the horrors I've faced in my less than three decades of life. I've been to therapy, I've dated other guys, and still nothing can distract me from the fact that when I'm around him, I feel so loved, so safe and understood, and so happy.

So what do I do? Do I tell him? Do I remove him and his friendship completely from my life, despite how much I rely on it almost constantly?