>>18 I also have a fear of the 'friend zone'. I worry about getting too close to a girl and wind up in the dreaded fz. However, I now think that's all a bunch of crap. I know my ex's aunt and uncle, they told before they were friends before they became lovers so the FZ isn't a black hole in a relationship. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I realise that the more any of us single guys fear the FZ, the more unsuccessful we become. In other words, our fear of it feeds it and wind us up with nothing. All I can say is befriend the girl like you normally befriend a guy, I think most of us try not to discuss sad stories with other guys so we shouldnt do that with women. If we do women will treat us like women since it's women who discuss sad stories together.
And there is nothing wrong with you (>>18) feeling attraction to your friend. Let's think of it this way, you two have known each other for a while, therefore well enough. Because of what happened, you two obviously have grown and subconscious attraction for each other otherwise you two wouldnt have done it. I say go for it and see how it goes. Don't miss an opportunity to get out of the 'Singles' category.