I have a friend. We've never labeled each other as "best friends," but it's sort of an unspoken thing between me and her. We share a lot of the same interests, been there for each other during some tough times in the past, and more importantly, she tells me she trusts me more than anyone else in her life, and I trust her as well. Other friends have remarked that we're almost like brother and sister.

I also had a massive crush on her when we first met, a crush that didn't amount to anything. I got friend-zoned, essentially, and it was also bad timing. I didn't know it at the time, but she was still fooling around with an ex-boyfriend on the down low. It sucked, but we had so much in common that we ended up being really good friends despite it. After that, those old feelings would pop up occasionally. When that happened, I remind myself that having feelings that aren't reciprocated are a waste of time, that I don't want to ruin a good friendship because of it. I like to think that I've been over her since then, but if you read on, maybe that isn't the case with me after all...

She's not good with boyfriends. Most of her ex-boyfriends have treated her wrongly, including a relationship that ended with her getting slapped around, and me getting pissed. I've cheered her on from the sidelines when she thinks she's found someone good for her, and consoled her when things don't go her way, which is more often than she'd like.

She just broke up with her recent boyfriend. We both thought that she might have found someone right for her, but it turned out in the end that he was just too immature to be in a serious relationship, and was just using her. He broke up with her 2 days ago. She texted me at 3 in the morning when it happened, and didn't stop crying the whole day since it happened.

I've spent the last two days talking to her and spending time where I could. I was in her apartment when she said, "I just want a guy who understands me and will love me for who I am," or something along those lines. Something in my mind started to gnaw at me when she said that. I knew what it was, but I didn't want to show it in front of her. When I left her place, it hit me full-on; I want to be that guy. And it really hurts that I'm not.

Now I'm left with a dilemma. I'm not in a relationship currently, and haven't made any serious efforts at one lately since I'm in the final stretch of school and that's taking up a lot of my time. But I've always made time for my friend. Now I've fallen for this girl all over again (or maybe I never stopped liking her, and this was only the catalyst), and it's driving me insane, because I know that she only sees me as a friend, and nothing else. I'm afraid that if I confess again, I'll get rejected again, and it'll possibly ruin a perfectly good friendship. But keeping this bottled up inside of me feels almost as bad. I'm really torn at what I should do.

What do I do?