IH, I don't know because you ended by saying "For whatever reason it is...she needs me in her life...if it's friendship then so be it." That seems counter to what you have been saying since the last meetup.
I guess I am confused. I know with Kayla in the past, she would call me (this was before texting) without anything to say. And this prompted me to start doing the same. This went on for a while. She had a new BF but when he wasn't around or not meeting her emotional needs etc, she'd call me.
"Hi."
"HI."
"WHat are you doing?"
"Nothing much, you?"
"Nothing."
Awkward silence.
"Steve!"
"What?"
"I don't know, I just miss you."
"Oh. Yeah, I miss you too."
"Oh I talked to so-and-so the other day, first time in a longtime....."
Enter mindless banter.
I occasionally made the same type of call.
One day I decided, I am not doing that anymore. First if she calls, I am not answering. If it was more of the above then she won't leave a message. If it is more important than the above she'll leave a message and either want me to call her back or leave the information she wanted to convey in the VM.
I am not calling her unless I have something pressing to ask her or tell her. I was done being the "I need someone to talk to about anything so I'll call Steve" guy.
I guess I wonder if you are at that point with her? Text like the one she sent conveyed info she wanted to send. No question, no query, nothing that required a response. SO why respond at all? Why indulge this "I need to text someone about Aretha......there is no one else.......so I'll text my consolation prize." In fact, as I look back this whole "we can be friends until we meet someone we REALLY like and want more with" is the same dynamic.
Anyway, IH just trying to give you a different perspective. I am often full of crap so ignore this completely if you want. But I have been mulling on AS's stance of you aren't or shouldn't DB her anymore. However, many of the concepts that DBing advocates applies to potentially new relationships too. And you and her are definitely that. Think about the girls that you met that were immediately overly clingy and needy. It turned you off didn't it? Now what if they were lovingly detached from the getgo? Suddenly your interest in them was higher. They weren't constantly calling,. texting, showing up at places you were at.
So if you felt compelled to respond, a simple "True." or something along those lines might have sufficed.
Anyway, I agree you shouldn't settle for the friendzone here.......but I think you shouldn't be in her friend zone as just a text buddy either. Just my two cents.
M(53), W(54),D(19) M-23, T-25 Bomb Drop - Dec.23, 2017 Ring and Piecing since March 2018
