15 Signs You're Falling In Love Before He Does

Every relationship is different, and everyone moves at different speeds when it comes to love and romance. There are some individuals who are basically ready to elope after the third date, who have seen way too many rom coms and want to find their one true love ASAP. Others prefer to take things at a glacial pace, perhaps because they're not ready for something serious or because they've been burned in the past. Whatever works for you is totally fine - the only problem is, you're not the only person in your relationship. Often, one person in a relationship is ready to take things to the next level a bit earlier than their partner, which can potentially lead to some issues.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with wearing your heart on your sleeve and being eager to fall - some may even consider those endearing qualities. However, it can definitely be a bit scary to feel like you're ready to totally commit to your partner, while they're still out there playing the field and definitely not falling head over heels like you are

No one likes feeling vulnerable, but let's face it - when you're the one who falls in love first, that's exactly how you feel! Here are 15 signs that you're falling in love before he does.

15 When you say 'I miss you,' you actually mean it

Look, everyone says things like “I miss you” to the people they care about because, well, it's true - however when you're in the beginning stages of a romantic relationship, it isn't always heartfelt. Sure, you might miss them a little bit, but it's just not comparable to the feeling you have when you haven't seen your family in months, or you've gone a year without seeing your bestie in person. If you feel like your partner is just going through the motions but you really, truly miss them, deep in your soul, when you've spent a lot of time apart - that's a good sign that you might be falling in love first. People progress at different speeds in relationships so there's a good chance that you may reach a stage of wanting a deeper commitment way before your partner does - which is fine, as long as you can recognize that it might take him a little time to catch up.

14 You make sacrifices for him - but he doesn't do the same

When you love someone, you make sacrifices for them - this can be something as small as agreeing to go to your partner's favourite restaurant for date night, even if it may not be your first choice, and as large as moving across the country to support your partner's career opportunity. However, small or major, both people in a relationship should make sacrifices for one another at some point. If you find that you're totally willing to make sacrifices for your partner because you truly love him, but he doesn't ever seem to be willing to sacrifice for you, it may be a sign that you're already deep in love and he isn't quite there yet. Just beware - even if your sacrifice is coming from a place of love, if you're constantly making sacrifices and not getting anything in return, sooner or later, you may start to feel taken advantage of and begin to resent your partner.

13 You want to be your weird self around him - but he's very reserved

One of the perks of being in love, in our opinion, is that you have someone you can totally be yourself around. You can let all your zany quirks hang out, make awful, lame jokes, and just enjoy being you without fear or judgment. It's the best! However, if you're totally ready to move to that stage in your relationship and start blasting your nostalgic guilty pleasures around the house rather than only playing carefully curated lists you think will impressive him, but he's still very reserved and not really willing to let you see all his weird habits and quirks, that may be a sign that you've fallen way before he has. You should always feel comfortable being yourself, but if he's not quite there yet, perhaps save your crazy Urkel impression, complete with tucked in socks and your sweatpants hiked up to your armpits, for another day.

12 You seem to text him more - always

Look, everyone has a different level of love for texting. Some people prefer to text their BFF or beloved once or twice a day, if something particularly noteworthy happens, and would rather just chat in person. Other people get thumb sprains from their frantic, 24/7 texting, and send so many texts on a daily basis it would astound you. That's something that needs to be taken into consideration. However, if you find that you're literally always the one initiating a conversation via text, or that his answers are always just monosyllabic answers that literally answer your question and nothing more, well, in addition to being annoying, that could be an indication that he's not quite where you're at. Particularly when you're in those exciting, butterfly-inducing, first stages of love, you want to talk to your partner all the time - so if he's all silent on the texting front, it may mean he hasn't quite fallen like you have yet.

11 You want to stay in - but he always wants to go out

Again, this one depends on what type of couple you are - if you're the kind of trendy couple who are trying out a new restaurant every second night, meet friends for post-work cocktails on a regular basis, and always have a list of invitations to choose from every weekend, well, this argument may not apply. For most couples, though, falling in love means reaching a stage where you would honestly rather just hang out at home, the two of you, than suffer through a sweaty party you don't want to go to. You absolutely still make time for fun date night adventures, but you're just as happy hanging out in your cozy clothes on the couch, binge-watching something on Netflix. If you want to hang out as a duo, and he keeps wanting to invite all his friends and go on a crazy bar-hopping spree, it may mean he isn't feeling that loving feeling quite yet.

10 You're planning a future, while he can't even plan a date

Some people are far more Type A than others - and it could very well be true that, while you're the type who has a ten year plan for your career and life goals and aspirations, your partner might be more the spontaneous type who wants to see where life takes him. That's totally fine. However, at some point in a serious relationship, you have to talk about the future - even if it means him saying that he sees you by his side while he travels the world on an entrepreneurial adventure. If your partner just doesn't even think about how you fit into his future at all, that's a sure sign he hasn't fallen quite yet - when you're truly in love with someone, you think about how they will fit into your life in the future, whatever that future might look like to you. No thoughts about the future could mean no future for the relationship.

9 You feel high

You know all the cliché sayings about feeling so utterly in love that you feel like you're high? About love being the best drug of all? Well, turns out, it's kind of true - researchers at Syracuse University found out that the euphoria associated with falling in love is similar to the euphoria you get when you imbibe in cocaine. Seriously - love is a drug. That's because love triggers the same feel-good chemicals - like dopamine and oxytocin - that some drugs can trigger, which is totally crazy to think about. This means it's also pretty obvious if your partner isn't feeling the same way - if you're on a high and always happy and feeling great, and your partner is miserable, that could be a sign that he's not in love yet. If that's the case, just enjoy all the feel good chemicals pumping through your body - chances are, he'll get there eventually.

8 You don't notice other hotties - but he seems to

There's a funny thing that often happens when you're in love. Before, when you were on a date with your partner, you might have noticed the sexy bartender or the David Beckham look-alike at the table beside you. Sure, you're going out with someone, but that doesn't mean you can't check out what else is on the menu, right? However, when you're head over heels in love, even though you can definitely appreciate when someone is objectively sexy, you just kind of don't see it anymore. You don't dream of what they'd look like shirtless because, well, you've already got someone who is basically your favourite person on the planet and who you think is crazy sexy - why would you bother looking at anyone else that way? If you're not noticing other hotties, but your partner gets a bit of a wandering eye, they might not be seeing others through those rose-colored love goggles like you are.

7 You talk about him - a lot - but his friends don't know about you

It's kind of common courtesy to introduce your partner to your friends at some point. After all, your partner is a part of your life, your friends are a part of your life - it only makes sense that the two should meet. And, when you're totally in love, it can be hard to stop yourself from gushing over your partner all the time - in fact, your friends will probably get sick of hearing about how amazing and incredible your partner is. So, if you meet his friends and find out that they hardly know about you, that's a sign that your boo probably isn't talking about you at all when he's hanging out with his friends. And yes, men and women handle relationships differently, so it could be that your guy is just not down to talk about his feelings as much as you are with your girls, but still - they should know a little bit about you if he's in love.

6 You don't want your BFF to critique him

Okay, let's be honest - as a friend, your job is basically to find any flaws in your BFF's potential partner so that she can avoid having her heart broken again. I mean, who would know better than the person who has wiped your tears after a bad break-up and brought you chilled wine to soothe the pain? BFFs are the harshest critics - so if you don't even want to hear the slightest criticism about your partner, chances are, you're head over heels in love. When you love someone, you want to protect them - so even if she's mentioning something because she has your best interests in mind, or wants to make sure you make the same mistakes you did with your loser ex, you get a little mad that she would even think to say something bad. That's because you're seeing your partner through rose-coloured love goggles. It's a definite sign that you're way in love.

5 Your ex is old news

No one on earth likes the feeling of going through a break-up - at best, they're incredible sad, and at worst, it's a toxic, traumatic event that may leave you wanting to give up men for good. However, as many people realize, one of the best ways to know that you're truly over an ex is to find love somewhere else. We're not talking about rebound relationships here - we're talking about those situations where you find a really incredible guy a little while after breaking up with your ex, and before you know it, you've forgotten all about your ex. Seriously - you're not crying over him anymore, you're not dreaming about what your lives could have been like together. Instead, you're just thinking about your new partner. If your relationship seems to be moving along at a normal pace and you've totally forgotten about all of your exes, well, that might be a sign that you're officially in love.

4 You can talk to him about anything, but he doesn't seem to care

In any relationship, honesty is always the best policy, and one of the best parts of finding your true love is that you have someone to share all your thoughts and fears and worries with. If you're in love with your partner, chances are you'll be spilling your guts constantly, because you know he loves you and would like nothing more than to share your concerns and chat about the things that are on your mind. That is, if he's in love with you too. If you've fallen in love way before he has, he might respond to your constant sharing with silence or indifference because, well, he's just not ready for that next step yet. He's not going to actually stop you from talking, but he's not exactly in a rush to dole out the comforting words. A partner who loves you will always care about what you care about - a partner who is just viewing you as a casual date won't.

3 You ignore his flaws

You know the saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Well, when you're in love, your eye tells you that your partner is basically flawless. I mean, you're seeing everything through love-tinted glasses. Other people might notice your partner's flaws, because they just see him as a regular person - you, on the other hand, only see his positive attributes and totally gloss over any shortcomings he might have. Often, with a bit of time, couples can get perspective and move from those crazy in love first stages to a mature relationship, but right at the moment when you're falling for him, chances are, you won't be able to find a single thing wrong with him. If you find yourself unable to see any of your partner's flaws, even if multiple people point out a particular issue or irritating quirk, that's a sign that you've officially fallen - even if he hasn't.

2 You can't stop thinking about him

In It Takes Two, Kirstie Allen's character talks about the kind of love she dreamed of, and calls it “that can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the stars, over the fence, World Series kind of stuff” - and that's what love truly feels like right when you're falling. Sure, it can be totally terrifying, but there's also something magical about that first bit where you feel like you're high and there are butterflies in the pit of your stomach 24/7. If you find that you literally cannot stop thinking about your partner, even though you should be focusing on something else, then that's a surefire sign you're probably in love. If both of you are feeling the same way, great - you can enjoy those blissful stages of puppy love. If you find that you're constantly thinking about him while he's thinking about what toppings to order on his pizza, though, things can get weird.

1 You want to have the 'label' talk

When you're truly in love with someone, you want to know where you stand. When you're just casually dating, for example, you might be fine with your boyfriend referring to you simply as his 'date' at an event. When you're in love, let's be serious - you want to know if you can start calling yourself his girlfriend, and if that's what he calls you when you're not around. If you're desperate to have the label talk but your partner seems to be dodging it by any means possible, that may be a sign that you've fallen before he has. Of course, it could also be a sign that you've got a major commitment-phobe on your hands, so who knows - everyone is different, and only you can be the judge of your relationship. If you're head over heels in love and he's just calling you a girl he's seeing, though, that definitely stings.