I’m in a situation where I should be over the moon but I’m not. Well, I don’t really know how I feel. The story goes like this. My girlfriend and I were talking over the phone last night when out of the blue she just dropped the “Love” word on me. She told me she loved me and I got caught off guard. My response was “you too,” just something cordial so I could give a response at that very moment.  She didn’t seem to mind, though.

We’ve only been together for six months. My friend went on a romance tour and I tagged along as a tourist. While he was at this event, I went out and eventually met this girl. We had a lot of fun together and we kept communicating even after I left. That’s how we got together. It’s quite a sweet story for me, to be honest. However, no matter how sweet this is, this still doesn’t mean that I already love her. It could lead to that but not now.

I’m afraid to tell her that I’m still not on that level yet because she might get upset. Do I have to say the L word too even if I don’t really mean it? Won't that be even worse than not saying it at all? I think I can dodge her for a while but I know eventually I would have to explain why I'm not saying I love you back. I'm confused here. I need some advice.