Hmm.. I guess for me, with my friendships, there is a very deep emotional connection. These are people who accept me for being me, and I don't have walls up around them. I think it's quite possible that your 'sweetie' definition is more in line with what I consider to be my 'friends' definition. And what you're calling friends would be more like folks who are in my social circles, but yet there's not yet a deeper personal connection (yet).


But by and large, I tend to follow the 'let relationships flow into their own natural channel' and not worry so much about the labels.