10 tiny signs he wants to take your relationship to the next level

For some couples, it can be weeks or
months before they put any kind of label
on it. Maybe you’re in a situation where
things started out casual and your feelings
crept up on you.
Or that window where you clarify that
things are now serious somehow came and
went, and things just feel awkward. Or
maybe you’re just on the cusp and neither
one of you wants to blow up the status
quo so you both just play it cool.
1. You’ve met his friends. Specifically, he
made a point to *bring you along* to meet
his friends. This is very different from him
messaging you at 1 AM to swing by a
party and pick him up, so you meet his
friends fleetingly. But if he actually makes
plans with you to go out with his friends,
and it all feels like a big deal, he’s at least
a little into you.
2. He’s bringing you around to “couple’s
events.” Meeting his friends is one thing.
But if you’re unsure of how he views you,
and you go out to a dinner that’s all
couples… you’ve pretty much got your
answer. No guy who wants to keep things
casual is going to take you out with a
bunch of other couples.
3. You slept over and didn’t have
sex. When you can spend the night with a
new-ish hook up and not feel obligated to
actually hook up, it's a good sign. The
more this happens, the more likely it is you
can have a “talk” without it being cringy.
Any guy who wanted to set boundaries with
a casual fling wouldn’t have even let this
happen once.
4. His family knows about you. Meeting his
parents is a huge step. So even if he isn’t
ready for that, his family knowing you exist
is a big deal — he wouldn’t tell them about
some random hookup.
5. You’ve done an overnight trip. I'm
obviously not talking about a couple’s
retreat at a bed and breakfast, otherwise
this wouldn’t even be a question… or you
both just have the weirdest relationship
ever. But if he’s asking you along to visit
his friend in college, or wants you to come
with him when his friends all get hotel
rooms for New Year’s Eve, he sees you as
a girlfriend or boyfriend.
6. You got through a tough time
together. On a much more somber note,
it’s likely that he’s not going to see you if
he’s going through the death of a close
relative. Or he might not want to crowd
you if you’ve got your own struggles. If
you’re both sticking around through the
worst of it, it’s because you care about the
other person.
7. He makes plans around you. You’re
probably not at the point where he’s going
to make major career changes with you,
but he’s thinking of you beyond the next
few weekends, that’s a sign. Whether it
means you made casual plans to go see a
movie in three weeks, or he’s taking you as
his plus one to a wedding in a month,
that’s something.
8. You get some kind of “thinking of you”
texts. His messages go beyond trying to
schedule the next hookup, or him sexting
you. If he wanted to keep his distance and
make things casual, he wouldn’t be texting
you every day. Or, he just really loves
DMing. To be fair, that’s also a possibility.
He might just be really bored at work.
9. He really goes out of his way to see you,
even if he’s already seen you a few times
this week. He’s braved snowstorms, or
driven an hour out of his way to show up
at your place. Maybe he even busts his ass
to see you multiple times in a week even
though it isn’t exactly convenient. That’s
definitely relationship-level effort.
10. When someone asks who you are, he
stammers and says, "my girlfriend/
boyfriend." You'll probably want to clarify
it with him after the fact (it's possible he
just felt awkward and panicked), but this is
as good a sign as any. If he just called you
his "friend," you'd know he's still trying to
keep his distance.