Answering the age-old question of whether your friend is only being nice to you or has developed romantic feelings towards you can be a very difficult task. Understanding the wrong interpretation of your transactions can leave you confused and if you choose to act on those interpretations then that can even end up ruining your friendship and leaving you both in a very awkward engagement. To be very honest, there may be no set rules for you to decide whether your friend is only being nice or has actually started liking you in a romantic capacity.
There are some psychological claims that you might have heard on TikTok that suggest putting your friend in a certain situation and observing how they respond can give you results on whether or not they like you but the truth is that these psychological claims usually have no basis or standing in psychological literature. The only way to answer this question is that you need to follow your gut. I don’t trust that it would give me the right understanding of your friend’s feelings. Of course, you need to give your gut a little time before you act on all those feelings.
Observe your friend closely and how they respond to things you say and also notice whether or not they respond in the same way to different people. If you notice that their behavior towards you is different from others and it might suggest romantic interests, that means that you have your answer. depending on whether you want to reciprocate those feelings you can confront them and potentially start your journey as a couple. If you do not share their feelings, then you might need to be more careful about how you talk to them to make sure that you do not send out any signals that might suggest otherwise in order to be able to avoid the awkward stage in your friendship.