1. Offer to run an errand for each other if one is in a serious time crunch.

2. Be super sweet about any given dilemma for as long as possible, but be brutal if you need to be. You may have to symbolically (or maybe physically) slap them across the face and tell them to stop being pathetic, and they will hate you at that moment, but they’ll soon realize that you’re being mean because you care.

3. Always play wingman, and chat your friend’s good qualities up to prospective guys and girls accordingly.

4. Always find some way to make their birthday special, even if they absolutely hate celebrating their birthday and they insisted on doing nothing this year. Make them happy without overwhelming them, whether that means buying them a cake, bringing over a 6 pack of beer and just chilling that night, or going out to a strip club.

5. Call instead of just texting.

6. Confiscating their phone when they get too close to the drunk-dialing kind of drunk. It’s in everyone’s best interest.

7. Teach them things about themselves that they never knew.

8. Celebrate promotions, engagements, and even when their tweet got 10 favs. If you’re slightly jealous, hide it well. This is their time to shine.

9. Never judge each other.

10. Attend their open mic, play premiere, art show without question.

11. Don’t “claim” them—introduce your newfound friends to your old friends and encourage everyone to hang out together. The more, the merrier, after all!

12. Send them a care package or ask if they need anything from home even though they’re only studying abroad for a couple of months.

13. Don’t hold grudges. If something is bothering you, try to deal with it now in a mature manner.

14. Accompany them to the doctor’s office, even though you are just as terrified of clinics as they are. Keep your phone on you at all times for two weeks after, just in case they need to call and talk and freak out.

15. Share a lot of personal details with them. Open up and let them in on your past experiences and current anxieties, no matter how painful or embarrassing.

16. Trust them with these secrets. They will guard them with their life.

17. Do not ask for that dollar that they borrowed once. It’s a dollar.

18. Be honest in the dressing room. Tell them when that floral button down makes them look like a fool and remind them that while those pants fit nicely, they will never actually wear them.

19. Remind them that you always have their back, even though they know that already.

20. Never get seriously mad at each other, even though they are always late.

21. Support each other’s relationships when they’re going well, and be a shoulder to cry on when they’re not. Reserve judgment against their significant other, however. That is a sticky situation nobody wants to be in. You can commiserate with your best friend as to how she feels, but only she is allowed to gripe about her relationship.

22. Help each other pack, or at least keep one another company while they do it, so they won’t have any more excuses to procrastinate.

23. Help them move even though it’s the last thing you want to do right now.

24. Offer to make them tea or drop off a bottle of NyQuil when they’re sick, even if their apartment is clear on the other side of town.

25. Always hand the other person the bigger slice of cake.

26. Recognize that friendship is a two way street: there is a time to talk about them, and a time to talk about you.

27. Don’t disappear when one of you enters a new relationship. You may be occupied with those first few moments of infatuation, but remember the friends who were there before the romance blossomed.

28. Never seek revenge on one another, no matter how bad a fight was.

29. Change something within them. Whether it’s as big as how they see the world or as small as a new habit they’ve picked up, prove that you are an invaluable part of their life. Because, after all, they’re an invaluable part of yours, too.