We met around two years ago on one chatting platform, and I am really happy that we managed to keep our friendship strong for this long, since we are around 8000 km away from each other.

First I saw her as a friend, but as time went on, I started to develop feelings for her. The fact that we have so much in common, like views on world, humor, and interests, certainly helped it. We send each other gifts, have already had video calls, and are now planning to go on a trip together (if the covid situation allows it).

However, I know that she views me more as a friend, and I know that having any close relationship this far away from each other is a bad idea, and so I think I need to somehow end the thought of a relationship with her in my head.

I am also dating locally, and met some wonderful girls, but none of them give me the same energy as this one friend. And I think that the longer I flirt with this idea of a relationship with her, the more hurt I’ll be when she tells me “no”. Maybe I am just blind now, and I won’t be interested in her when we finally meet, but I’d like to do something about it now, since our meetup is not gonna happen anytime soon.

Do you have any ideas on how to approach this? Ideally without stopping contact with her.

TL;DR: Made a great online friend/penpal two years ago, now have a crush on her. Don’t know how to stop.