I (18M) am in the process of making friends with some people around my age. They're mostly guys. I haven't been part of a group like that in a while because I was pushed out of social stuff when I was younger due to a combination of being not straight and autistic. This is a big deal to me, and I don't want to mess it up.

One of the guys is very much my type and I could see myself really liking him. I thought he was attractive when I first saw him. I haven't spoken to him that much yet, but he's almost certainly straight. I don't want to wind up in an awkward situation. I also don't really want to date my friends.

I haven't really "come out" to any of them and I'm probably not going to as I quite like not being seen as "the gay one", although I suspect some of them have figured it out but have said nothing. It's nice to just be a part of the group, and I don't want to ruin that.

Would it be wrong to be careful about getting too close? What should I do? How do I avoid making this awkward?