The best love is when you fall in love with your best friend. I’m not saying this is the case for everyone, but those who’ve experienced it will understand the sentiment. We all know the common romantic comedy trope in which two longtime friends, after searching far and wide for the right companion, end up falling for one another. Perhaps the concept is cliche, but it’s certainly not too detached from the basis of lasting love. In fact, friendship forms the foundations of romance. Or as Elbert Hubbard once said;

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”

Your best friend knows that you talk shit 90% of the time; they know you snore, or are incredibly picky when you eat out. They know your strengths and your weaknesses, but most importantly they know all your bad habits but they love you anyway.

In high school, your bad side is usually at its worst. You’re going through puberty and are insanely hormonal, and even though you know the difference between right and wrong, you sometimes ignore it for the sake of being rebellious. People always say high school romances don’t last largely because the promise of only having sex with one person or not experiencing real-life dating is too much for 15 year-olds. But for the ones that make it past that, are the ones made to last and here’s why:

You nurtured your love and let it grow

You literally started at the bottom. You went from not knowing each other, to becoming friends, to becoming best friends, to discovering your spark was stronger than just friends. When you take the time to truly know someone before you jump into a relationship with them, you’re not going in blind. You’re making a commitment you know you can keep. You didn’t rush in headfirst and destroy the relationship by having sex after your first date. You let it grow.

You get to watch each other grow

In high school you hold dreams, both separate and together. Whether it’s your career goals, the hope to travel the world, or wanting to get married and have kids. The choices that define your adult self are made together. You get to watch each other grow up and become the people you always dreamed of being. You also get to be there to support one another when it seems like everything’s falling to shit. This creates a deep level of understanding within the relationship because you truly understand what it took for you both to get to where you are.

Your past will never come to bite you up the ass

You don’t have complicated past relationships. There’s no love child or unresolved issues with exes. Your relationship is simple. Not boring, just minus all the unnecessary drama that steers a relationship away from its core.

But most importantly, you’re lucky enough to find your rock in the world early in life. This is nothing short of a blessing. Some people search their whole lives and never find true love. So if you manage to find it at 15, grab hold and don’t let go and if its truly meant to be you will be sitting back looking at your lives together in 50 years time.