So, I've been living my 21 years of life very comfortably without the need of being in a relationship. I've had many crushes and puppy love, but never really acted upon these feelings due to my shyness in high school. I'll be graduating university next summer, and moving on the grad school, and the thought of not being in a relationship doesn't bother me, which I think is quite okay.

Just recently, I went to an anime convention that I wasn't even sure about going to. I heard a classmate of mine who I hadn't seen since we graduated high school was going, and we met and had an amazing time. I started feeling and thinking things, because we were very close during this short time. Now, I've known for quite some time that I don't easily get into romantic relationship, but I easily feel for others. But, I could never just go out with someone without knowing them and trusting them. I feel like I need to be friends with them, as it gives a stable foundation to build a relationship. This is problematic, because a relationship could ruin that wonderful friendship, and if you share friends with your partner, it could be a mess. As I'm not easy to trust, I've got a close group of friends. So, even though I have feelings for my past classmate, I probably won't act upon them for the sake of friendship.

Basically, I need advice on how to initiate a romantic relationship, not necessarily with my classmate, but just to open myself to romance. I love the idea of being involved romantically, and having someone close, but I don't trust easily. And once we have that trust, we're usually better left off as friends.

It's been a while since I've gave advice about relationships or just problems period. However, I must say that your on the right boat. Relationships does create a massive nuke when it comes to friendship (some of the time). But just try to get comfortable around people who aren't your friends. Explore what you want, what gains your interest into romance. It is hard trusting people but sometime trusting the wrong person makes your outcome on things more existing. Try something different to figure out other than "trusting someone" what else are you aiming for. Again, its been awhile since I gave advice. If this sounds dumb in anyway I can try a different tactic on this.