Friendship-with-benefits, FWB is a kind of sex-heavy relationship which excludes emotional attachment and commitment.
One of the most millennial terms of this century is friends with benefits. It gives you all the relationship benefits without a real-life relationship, and there are no strings attached between you two.
It is quite liberating that you can go to that person without any constraints and reap all the benefits of a relationship without even having one. But, with time it certainly gets complicated.
As we are all humans and emotions and feelings will slowly creep your way. Just like any other relationship in your life has its own sets of rules, so does friends with benefits. So it is very important to define the rules and stick to them.
Here are 10 important rules to guide you through it if you ever find yourself in one.
1.Choose Someone Honest
You need to make sure that you two are open about everything, as both of you need to be on the same page in case either of you start developing feelings for the other. Same thing goes if one person wants to end it. You both have to be okay with the end result, so an lines of trust and honest communication are key.
2. Love’s not welcome here
The possibility that one or both of you will start catching feelings is pretty high.
Allowing these feelings to blossom changes things dramatically. Acting on them graduates the relationship from FWB to a proper relationship. And that’s not OK unless, you both decide that that is what you really want.Relationships and FWB relationships are two different things and should be treated as such.
3.Ensure you’re emotionally ready
Casual sex can be anything but casual if you aren’t emotionally prepared. Some people are able to disassociate the act from the emotion, but others struggle with this, and that’s okay. A lot of us are programmed to feel a connection after we sleep with someone, so you need to make sure you’re 100 percent okay with having sex that won’t lead to anything deeper.
4. Dates are for couples, not you
This one is very tricky as there might be need to get food together at some point along the line. If this need arises, don’t treat it as a date in a romantic sense.
And going together to any other event or occasion is so not allowed in this kind of relationship. These are the types of things that makes people catch feelings.
And you don’t want to catch feelings here. Chances of having those feelings unreciprocated are really high.Don’t do things that’ll make you catch feelings.
5.Practice safe sex always
Condoms! Are! Lifesavers Not only do they prevent you from having little babies with a partner you’re not interested in long-term, but they also make sure you stay STD-free, which is key when you’re having sex with someone you’re not monogamous with. You do not want to risk messing up what should be a good time for all.
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6. You can’t do this with a close friend
Friends with benefits is a relationship that works best with someone you’ve recently met and haven’t really bonded with. You don’t want to ruin great friendships with this.
If you are hopeless romantic, this is not the best for you either, as it is a completely watered down version of the kind of relationship you’ll really be longing for.
7. No jealousy
No matter how good the sex is, never ever feel entitled to it. Your ‘partner’ is not yours and getting entitled will breed feelings of jealousy.
All that stuff has no place in a FWB relationship.You don’t need to ruin things with jealousy. That’s not even allowed.
8. You’re allowed to meet new people
FWB is usually what people do when they’re not ready for relationships but you still need to regularly satisfy their sexual cravings.
When the time comes though, don’t shut out new people because you have an ongoing FWB relationship.
You owe him/her no loyalty or anything like that.It is sex and not much else. No need to make things awkward with unnecessary small talks and emotional purges.
9.It’s not only about sex
Your partner is still your friend first, so, never ever make them feel like they are only here for sex. It is always important to respect their feelings and not make them feel like trash or someone you are only physically with. Although it is never turning into a relationship, it is also very important to maintain the friendship that started the entire setup of friends with benefits.
10.Don’t introduce your FWB to your parents
A FWB is supposed to be temporary. If your parents don’t already know your “friend,” don’t feel obligated to introduce them to your family or friends. You don’t want people in your life to start nagging you about “what’s going on with you guys?” do you?! I think not. Skip the drama and keep it on the down low.