I (20M) have been talking daily with a girl (21F) long-distance for about a month. We’ve had one ~4-hour call, and we’re planning a movie night after New Year’s. I’m trying to stay grounded and not read too deeply into things, but I’m curious how people interpret these signals.
Things that happen consistently:
• A lot of “us / we / our” language (shared jokes, “our ___” phrasing, light future-oriented talk)
• She mentioned thinking about and liking my voice the day after our call
• Lots of hearts/reactions and playful, flirty-adjacent messaging
• We enjoy teaching each other things and seem genuinely curious about each other
• Conversation moves easily between playful and personal
• We share personal writing/art and have a lot of overlap in tastes, including very mundane likes
• Questions about each other’s personal lives (day-to-day, opinions, goals, stories)
• No direct “I like you” talk, but frequent “I like ___ about you / the way you ___” comments
• Constant in-jokes and callbacks—basically our own running joke list
• We like showing each other things and asking to see things
• Occasional warm goodnight / good morning messages
• Energy resumes easily after gaps (doesn’t reset to awkward small talk)
• No friction or punishment if one of us misspeaks or gets something wrong
Question:
Are these common attraction signs, or can this still be normal close-friend behavior—especially long-distance? If it can be platonic, what usually separates “very close friends” from “romantic interest” in situations like this?