On the point of getting confused about friendship vs more: I ran in to notable troubles that way a number of times. I suspect that if I were single now, that I would probably still run in to the same issue.

How bad was it for me? This bad: I am 50 and every time in my life that I thought I was going on a date, I found out later that the other person hadn't been thinking of it as a date at all. Months later at times.

It went the opposite way, too: three women fell for me without my realizing anything more than friendship had been going on. (In the third case, I'd been falling for her at the same time, but due to circumstances I had reason to believe it was just friendship on her part, so I didn't want to say anything.)

It is often said by women that, "Guys will fall for anyone who just shows them some basic friendship", or "Most guys mistake basic friendship for interest." I don't think I got past that myself until well in to my... ummm, not so many months ago, to be honest.

It happens to many of us. I make no excuse about it. You will probably find yourself disappointed a number of times in your life. Don't feel bad about liking someone enough to feel there might possibly be a future (unless, that is, you find yourself doing it repeatedly for people who are definitely Not Available, or whom are really unsuitable people for you.)

For me, there were times when I kind of liked someone anyone, and some of their actions gave me the impression that they liked me, so I developed a feeling that I had better say something so that the two of us didn't miss the chance for something more developing. In those cases, being told No Thanks was somewhat of a relief to me, as I could let go of the stress of second-guessing the relationship. I think maybe that happened to me a fair bit when I was very lonely and wanted some relationship, and then met someone friendly, and I didn't want to lose the chance that some relationship could maybe work out. (That wasn't always the case, though: I still miss one of the women, 28 years later.)

Anyhow, don't feel bad about not knowing what is going on. Emotions are confusing at the best of times.