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I've had this friend since I was little. I think I met them when I was around the age of 5 or 6.
It didn't take me long to realize they weren't real.
Even at age 5 I saw the way they couldn't interact with anything and how I was the only one who saw them. But still I was little and felt bad worried that if I started to act like I didn't see them or that if I forgot about them they'd be lonely and I didn't want anyone to be lonely.
So I pretend.
I pretend they were real and that they were my friend.
We had similar interests but vastly different personalities. They like the ocean while I hated it. We both loved all sorts of animals etc. ect.
But like any caring parent my parents got a bit concerned when I started talking to thin air.
It's not too common for kids to have imaginary friends. I was only they're second child and they were quite young when they had me so I don't blame them for their concern.
But it's not normal for a kid to acknowledge or even accept that their friend isn't real but still continue to act as if the person is real and not imaginary.
It eventually became a habit to act as if they were real even when I was alone. But the older I got the more quiet about it I was since I knew I'd get teased at school about still having an imaginary. I started to only ever really knowledge my imaginary friend whenever I was alone or at home so as to not get weird stares.
My family grew used to my behavior although it concerned them we were too broke to really afford any kind of therapy or professional help and i had always been a weird child so they just learned to live with my imaginary friend never out right asking about them but still listening as if they were a real person whenever I spoke of them.
No matter where I went or how old I got I never really lost the fake friend so I was thankful when my college roommate didn't care much about what I did or why I talked to myself as if conversing with someone else after I explained to them my imaginary friend situation sure they thought I was strange but i never cared much for the opinions of others.
I lived a somewhat normal life for most of my first years of college, changed my major once or twice and got too attached to a stray cat only to cry for days when it got hit by a car.
But it was only until my last year of college when I meet my new roommate he was a lovely guy and after finding out of my imaginary friend he began to ask questions about them wanting to get to know them as if they were just another extension of myself in a way no know else had I could tell that my new roommate genuinely cared for my imaginary friend the way I had too.
I couldn't help but fall in love. I mean the guy was such a sweetheart and he was a bimbo in the best way possible while also not being too dumb.
Now obviously I was incredibly close to my imaginary friend. I mean I've "known" them since I was little. We were far closer than the average childhood best friends so I immediately told them about my crush and they for the first time ever got possessive over me. My friend had never cared much for the other people in my life unless they were especially important to me the same way the other people in my life didn't care much for them. So I was rightfully shocked when they expressed resentment and down right hatred for my roommate.
At first I didn't realize why I thought they were just upset that I might start acting differently or that I'd bother them constantly about my crush.
Eventually they grew to tolerate and even to some extent like my roommate even if they'd never say it. Me and my roommate continued to get closer to the point that even after graduating and moving into our own apartments we still kept in touch as close friends.
As our relationship grew my feelings for my old roommate grew too and I could tell this greatly upset my imaginary friend but they never really said much about it so I let it go.
One day my crush had asked me out and it was the best night of my life.
Before him I never really felt this way about other people wanting to focus on other things rather than on romantic or intimate relationships so this was a new step in my life and I was excited to start it with someone so kind and understanding.
Confusingly though my imaginary friend was silent during the whole confession and the time after when I went home to squeal into my pillow.
They were always such a blabbermouth who never knew how to shut up. In some cases this was a good thing (but mostly just it was just annoying) but they were never silent. I tried talking to them trying to figure out what was wrong but they just ignored me. The next morning when I invited my now boyfriend they got angry when we kissed for the first time.
My boyfriend was confused and concerned since as far as they knew my imaginary friend was mostly peaceful, never really getting upset over anything but he suddenly let out a loud scream.
He could see my friend!
My boyfriend could see my imaginary friend!
Oh shit my imaginary friend was trying to beat up my boyfriend!
I pulled them off of my boyfriend (and wow how strange it feels to be able to touch them after not being able to physically interact with them for years) I got them to calm down enough to not constantly be at my boyfriends neck.
Both me and my boyfriend were incredibly confused since they had never really expressed much negative thoughts about him since we first met. In fact I'd say that they'd really started to warm up to and even like my then roommate now boyfriend.
After a lot of talking about our relationship and feelings and just stuff in general we learned a lot.
For starters they weren't imaginary but rather a demon who had been banished when they were young and decided to befriend me, appearing only for me to see. And as they grew up aside me they developed feelings for me but since I was under the impression that they were imaginary they didn't reveal the truth out of fear of scaring me but seeing me with a crush upset them greatly upset them but it was just a crush so they got over it thinking it'd never go somewhere (which rude but okay) so when it did they just couldn't help but be frustrated.
After my now demon friend explained this I realized that I too had developed romantic feelings for them but never thought much of it since I thought they were imaginary.
My boyfriend took all of this surprisingly well and suggested we continue to talk about our feelings and what was going to happen next.
My boyfriend ended up moving in with us and my demon friend allowed for they're "true" form to be seen by my boyfriend as well. They started to actually manifest so that they could interact with things as well.
They warmed back up to my boyfriend and soon we were all talking about that night again with my boyfriend bringing up how my friend said they had a crush on me for years which lean to me admitting that I also had a crush on them and my boyfriend surprisingly said that he too had developed feelings for my friend when I spoke of them in college but just like me he blew it off since they were "imaginary".
My demon friend hesitantly (and shyly might I add) claimed that they also had a crush on my boyfriend.
We talked for a bit and decided that we'd all date each other but if someone asked only me and my boyfriend were dating and my "imaginary friend" went away not too long after we started dating.
And that's where we are now. My boyfriend is still a sweetheart and my demon boyfriend is still rather possessive just of my other boyfriend too now.