I’m in an online relationship, but I think I’m catching feelings for someone in real life

Hi! so I'm 16 y/o and have been in an online relationship for a little over a month now. We’ve been friends since April, and it’s honestly really healthy compared to most relationships I’ve been in. My partner is amazing and understanding, so I’m genuinely happy with us overall.

The only thing is, I’m big on words of affirmation, like compliments, praise, affection through words. But that’s not really my partner’s thing, or at least they don't express it as much. I know that’s just how they are, and I don’t resent them for it, but I do miss that kind of expression sometimes. He also has a problem with gate keeping things hes into which annoys me at times, but I know his reasons why and I understand it.

Here’s where things got complicated. There’s this friend of mine and I used to have a small crush on him back in grade 9. It was short-lived, nothing serious, and I moved on completely. But lately, we’ve been getting closer again because we share a class. I truly only saw him as a friend… until Halloween night.

We ended up matching costumes last minute (not a couples costume, but the characters we picked are often shipped together). It was funny andcute, and we looked great together, many photos. Later that night, a group of us went trick-or-treating, but he and I broke off from the group with one other person because we were actually trying to get bags full of candy.

He was really nice to me, and he has been in general, not even flirty, just genuinely kind. He complimented me, telling me I'm cute, a great singer, gave me his jacket when I got cold, showed concern and checked in on me when I needed it and just… made me feel really cared for. The guy is great, fun to talk to, silly debates, very open. He’s like that with people in general, he’s just naturally gentle and polite, but it made me feel something I didn’t expect.

Now I’m feeling this weird swirl of emotion like I keep thinking about him, even having romantic thoughts of the present and future and it’s messing with me. I don’t know if it’s because I actually like him, or if it’s just that my current relationship is online and I’m craving affection in person.

I don’t want to be unfair to my partner because they’ve done nothing wrong. But I also don’t want to ignore these feelings..??? I plan to wait it out and see how I feel, but part of me is wondering if I should eventually break up with my partner if I can’t shake this. I feel so horrible for thinking like this.