"I think we should be friends AT LEAST"

Would things get icky if I just asked "Right, do you fancy me or not?". Or should we just get to know each other on ambiguous terms and see what happens?

A "what's going on here" sort of comment though not in a pin her down on the table and scream it at her way would be a good idea I think, drawing on my limited experience.

I think it's awkward to instantly be friends with the person, if they liked me I think I'd find it alot easier than if I liked them. I mean, personally, I think it's a little unfair of someone you really fancy to expect you to be able to be best buddies with them instantly as if nothing had happened.

So I guess what that says is, it's easier to friends if you're the one doing the turning down because being in the company of the person does not make you WILD WITH DESIRE. Or something to that effect.

yeahhhh, but if someone fancied you, and you didn't fancy them at least a bit, chances are it's because they are either weird or a munter. In which case you might not want to hang out with them.

Yes, the interesting part of this question to me is not knowing if a girl you fancy and have begun to hang out with is on the mental road to friendship or something more. If it is ambiguous, can one generally just ask/talk about it or does that have the potential of killing it? Um, hypothetically speaking of course.

Heh, I'm about to go on a date with a girl who has made it very obvious that she's really really into me (as in, hands trembling while flipping through the weekly to see what to do)... She's really cool and nice and I look forward to the date, and I know I, ahem, AT LEAST want to be really good friends with her -- with, um, priveleges if she desires -- but I have almost been half-thinking of what I'm going to say IF I'm not into a serious thing and IF she is. It's all too goddamn early to tell, of course... and I've flipped my feelings for girls in the past, always after turning them down (funny how I fall for girls once they feel comfortable acting like themselves as opposed to being obsequious).. but so far, I've been able to get out of any potentially awkward romantic situation without (as far as I know) having the girl in question refusing to speak to me, and still thinking the world of me.

So in brief "I think we should be friends AT LEAST" is very valid, and you shouldn't be afraid to say that if that's how you truly feel... but AS LONG AS YOU FOLLOW THROUGH AND KEEP IN CONTACT. It's all the assholes who use that line as a backdoor escape and are never seen again that have given it a bad connotation.