• You can be yourself around him/her.
• You can have different opinions on something, and know that it’s okay.
• You trust each other when you’re not together.
• You aren’t pressured to do things you don’t want to do. (This definitely includes sexual things, but also other things, like going somewhere you don’t want to go, or wearing something you don’t want to wear.)

Some people will drop all their friends after they start dating someone in all of the excitement and newness of a relationship. They might not mean for it to happen, but it still does. Don’t be that person!  You still need your friends and family and that social support if things don’t work out in a month or two or even a year or two!  Also, you still need a social life outside your boyfriend or girlfriend.

It’s natural to share interests with the person you’re dating, but you also need to keep developing an identity outside of that person, too. Keep thinking about what you like and what you need. Have an interest that’s just yours. It will improve your self-esteem, and being confident in yourself makes you more likely to be confident in your relationship.