I [M23] have been friends with this girl [F21] for 6 years now. I've always had a crush on her. In fact, I don't think I've ever felt this strongly about anyone before. But until about a year ago, I never thought anything would happen between us, so I just repressed my feelings.

But then, a year ago, we were hanging out and she asked me "did you used to have a crush on me" and I ended up saying yes. Then she said "I also had a crush on you". But, she had just gone through a really difficult breakup and some other relationship trauma, so she said she wasn't ready for a relationship with anybody.

At that point in my life, I was in a very unstable place. I had just gotten sober and I wasn't emotionally stable. So hanging out with her was very difficult for me. So I told her I needed some time apart.

Fast forward to last week. I finally decided to reach out to her to see if she had changed her thinking and was ready for a relationship. So we hung out and talked about it.

She told me that she really likes me, and we talked about how we could be so good together, that we're super compatible. We also talked about how I'm much more mature than all of her past boyfriends, and I'm way different than any of them.

But she said she's decided she won't date any close friends anymore because she's been burned too many times. She's dated a lot of friends which ended up ruining the friendships, and as a result she says she doesn't have that many friends now. She's worried that if were to get into a relationship it could sour our friendship if it doesn't work out.

I understand where she's coming from. But in my mind, this is a defense mechanism in response to trauma, and I can't help but feel that maybe in the future things will be different. And I told her that. She said that maybe things will change, but she doesn't want me to wait for her. So I told her okay I won't wait for her.

But afterwards I was thinking about it, and you know I sort of just played right into her defense mechanism. And if I think about it, I would be willing to wait for her. Not for a long time, but for some time. So I'm thinking maybe I'll tell her "look you're someone I'm willing to wait for, and maybe we should come back to this in a few months".

She also feels like she's "damaged goods" (her words not mine) and that she doesn't want to bring me down. So she's dealing with a lot of insecurity. But I told her I don't think that's the case at all. So maybe if I show her that she's worth it to me, maybe things will change. We have so much fun together and she's exactly my type. And we have a friendship of 7 years and we know each other really well. I really think it could work.

But the thing is, I also recognize there's nothing I can do to change her mind. It's up to her whether she wants to give it a try.

But I can't help think that I'll regret it if I don't say something now.

What do you all think I should do? Should I tell her my feelings about possibly waiting for her? Or should I just let it go, and move on?