It's my first time ranting about my personal life online, but I'm really desperate for advice. I have recently started college (I live in Canada) and the closest friend I have in school is a guy I met in high school and befriended some years back. He recently confessed to me and I'm trying to sort out my feelings. We both really like videogames and are very compatible intellectually, so we slowly became close with time because of forced proximity and a series of coincidences from having common friends or classes. I've come to rely on him a lot for my problems or just a shoulder to lean on when I'm down, and I have offered the same for him. My main issue is that I'm very insecure and I have 0 love experience from simple bad luck, so when he told me recently that he has fallen in love with me through the years, my chest felt really tight and I felt insensitive for never noticing. I have treated him like family and compared him to family, because touch with him feels so normal, and he's never weird about showing affection when I need it, like a hug or a pat on the head, never placing his hands somewhere that would make me uncomfortable. I feel so extremely bad for ranting to him about my crushes all this time and telling him I wish he truly was my brother (facepalming myself just thinking about it). No man has ever been this caring, thoughtful and gentle with me. He likes even the parts I hate about myself, and fell in love with me for who I am, not who he idealizes me to be, because we're far from strangers at this point. I know I love him, and as an introvert that's a strong word for me to use, but I've never thought of him romantically. I wish I could date him. I wish it so badly it makes me want to cry, because I know I could make him happy and I know he would treat me well as he already does. But I don't feel physical attraction. Is this heartache the same as liking him? Do I just need to try a little harder and fall for him too?