Finding Love After Loss: 7 Signs That Someone Likes You

You are dating a person who you deem a keeper. How do you know he/she feels that way about you, too? 

No matter how powerful and deep your feelings are, if they are not reciprocated they mean very little. 

Dating limbo, or "sort of dating" someone is a difficult and tiring place to be. Rather than spending your energy on fostering the relationship, you exert it on keeping your feelings in check so you don't scare this prospective mate away.

Always remember that you deserve to be with a person who wants to be with you as much as you want to be with him or her. When a person makes excuses for not calling or spending time together, he/she is telegraphing that the relationship is not important. If this happens repeatedly, don't brush this hint aside.

Conversely, here are 7 signs that indicate your date enjoys being with you and wants to move to the next level.

1. They are curious about you. They ask a lot of questions and seem genuinely interested in the answers because they find everything you say fascinating.

2. They return your phone calls, emails, texts. They are prompt in answering you. They don’t play games, for example they don't worry if their quick response time makes them seem overanxious. Keep in mind that it’s simply polite to answer someone in a timely fashion (in both dating and any other situation).

3. They introduce you to their friends. They are proud to be with you and want to include you in their circle of friends.

4. They want to meet your friends. They want to be included in your circle and come to know the important people in your life.

5. They are dependable. They become your “go-to” person – the one on whom you can depend to help you out when needed. Miles Franklin said, "Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings."

6.They are comfortable just hanging out. The two of you can be with each other in companionable silence and not feel awkward or feel the everpressing need to fill the silence. I'm reminded of what Piglet said to Pooh when he came up from behind him. "Pooh!" he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?" "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you." (A.A. Milne)

7. They start using the words we and us. Couple-speak is used with ease. This leads to couple thinking vs. single thinking. Both of you start to think of yourself as a unit, and as Marceline Desbordes-Valmore asked, "Are we not like two volumes of one book?"