Read This If Your Relationship Is Not Official

We all eventually reach that point in our lives where all of our friends’ statuses jump to “in a relationship,” and our news-feeds are flooded with pictures of our high school friends and their “boos.” Meanwhile, your status bar has been empty for quite some time, and your relationship status has steadily read “single.” But your mouse is still hovering over the relationship bar on your profile, wondering if it’s time to make the switch. Everyone else is, right? You and your significant other are definitely something- just, maybe not something you’re ready to set in stone.

You’ve been here for a while now, wondering, “Are we a couple, or are we still ‘just friends?’” That’s a really tricky question to answer, and sometimes, there just isn’t an answer to it. Making something official isn’t always the best answer, but it still begs the question- is it really a relationship? And that answer is yes.

Just because your relationship isn’t official doesn’t make it less of a relationship. Just because there isn’t an official stamp on the two of you doesn’t mean your relationship isn’t just as fulfilling as Kimye (well, maybe that’s taking it a bit too far). There’s just something magical about saying, “This is my girlfriend/boyfriend” when you introduce someone, and having an official label on your relationship makes those introductions much easier, but your relationship isn’t just what people view it as.

Your relationship is what you define it as, and if you don’t want to define it as anything, that’s perfectly fine, too. Just because some people would refer to you as “just friends” because your relationship isn’t official doesn’t mean you have to, and when it’s all said and done, whose opinion matters more- you and your partner’s or some bystander’s that doesn’t know the situation half as well as you do?

If you’re happy with your partner and the relationship between you the way it is, you don’t need an official label on it. At some point in time, you both might decide to agree on a set classification for it, but letting friends and family butt in on a relationship that you’re comfortable with isn’t okay, even if their intentions are only to help. Your relationship is what you make it, and if you don’t feel like it fits the social norm, keep the relationship status blank and enjoy the ride.