Only natural to want to date a friend, isn't it?

All those feelings mixed together made the now 24-year-old stop seeing his friend as just a friend. In high school terms, he "like-liked" her.

So it happened. What was nothing more than a platonic friendship grew into Snyder harboring a desire for something more - hoping, wishing, wanting, waiting to take the relationship to the next level.

It's not surprising, really, says Erika Karres, who is writing a book tentatively called "Top Secrets of Crushes, Flirts and Flames," which she hopes to have released early next year.

Your friends have the best qualities; that's why they are your friends. A friend sticks by you, sees you for who you really are and loves you for it, and you know you can rely on him or her. It's only natural to get so comfortable with this person you want to take it to the next level.

It also has to do with proximity, says Rachna D. Jain, a Maryland-based psychologist who has worked with many people dealing with this situation.

"The more you spend time with someone, the more you like them," Jain says. "As you get further along in the friendship you start thinking of the 'what if.' "

Sometimes kicking the friendship up a notch can work. Other times, though, a once-solid relationship falls apart like a house of cards in a light breeze.

That's what happened to Jessica Burns. The 22-year-old was friends with a fellow student her freshman year at Siena College in Albany, N.Y. They were the same age, had a few classes together, lived in the same dorm and often found themselves going to the same parties.

Burns saw him as nothing more than a friend. He, on the other hand, would follow her to the computer lab and sit there chatting while she tried to work, and he'd visit her dorm room constantly.

He never came right out and told her he had romantic feelings, but he told many of their mutual friends.

Eventually, Burns felt suffocated, and became uncomfortable even with a friendship.

"I know I have a flirty personality, and I didn't want him to think I wanted something more, so I kind of went to the opposite extreme," says Burns. Today, she'll stop and say hello when they run into each other around town, but they are no longer friends.

If revealing your true feelings does ruin the friendship, don't give up hope, says Karres. It's probably temporary.

"Good friends are so rare," she says. "You don't want it to crash permanently."

Karres suggests giving the person a little space. Refrain from continuing to profess your love and try to meet other people to divert your focus.

But don't apologize for your feelings, she says. A crush comes on like a cold it can hit so hard it knocks you out, or it may creep up. Either way, you can't control it. Do apologize for making the other person feel uncomfortable, though. Acknowledging that you understand how they feel is an important step toward repairing the friendship.

Some people, though, don't have to offer an apology. They are the lucky ones, who come to a crossroads and are met with mutual interest.

Jeff Tai and his current girlfriend had been friends for a few years after meeting through a Christian student organization at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy. They played guitar together, went out to eat and could talk for hours about life, love, family and happiness.

Eventually, thoughts of her were stuck in his head like the chorus from

"Who Let the Dogs Out?" No matter how hard he tried, thoughts of her laugh, her smile, her fun-loving nature wouldn't go away.

"I didn't say anything at first," says the 22-year-old. "But then I couldn't hold it in anymore."

At first she wrote a letter kindly brushing him off. He was a great friend, she said. She cared a lot about him. But it wasn't the right time. She liked the way things were. They continued to hang out, talk and be best friends.

Soon, though, the time was right. She changed her mind. Now they date.

It's been about two months.

Tai didn't come on too strong when he finally opened up. That probably helped the couple, says Karres.

"Human beings have feelings and are sensitive," Karres says. You have to pick the right time, place and situation in which to let it all out.

That means no calling him or her up at work or going into attack mode when you're both hanging out with your friends.

If you're trying to save face and feelings (for one or both of you), you could send the message through a friend. Just make sure you pick someone who is trustworthy. You don't want mixed, wishy-washy responses going back and forth.

Snyder decided to go right to the source with his crush. He told his friend he liked her, but not until a year or so ago.

"She kind of laughed at me," says Snyder, laughing at himself as he recalls the encounter. "I guess you have to take that as she isn't interested."