I haven’t posted here before, but I need to put this out there and get it off my chest because it’s killing me. So me and this guy had been good friends in middle and high school. We were neighbors and were on the same club teams, all to say that we knew each other really well growing up. Well we’ve reconnected since then because he happened to move into my apartment complex after college. (He was heading back to our hometown, I never left). Not after long he confided in me about his mother. I’ve always known that his mother wasn’t the best person to say the absolute least, and never took care of him well. But a couple of years ago she apparently decided she wanted to start over, and have another kid. His sister (now 5). And had handed her off to him after she decided she couldn’t take care of her. He had to drop out and move back in town because of that, and he’s really hurting for money. Now, Here’s the thing. I have a pretty good job. I wasn’t ever much of a scholar so I didn’t bother with college, I went straight for an office job and have had a few raises since then with the hours I put in. I’m cheap to a fault and live way below my means, and I can work remotely if I decide to. So I offered to take babysit for him so he can find his footing. I come from a big family, and baby-sittings kind of the norm for me. He was really hesitant at first but we came up with a system. I’d switch to remote work, and he can drop his sister off at my place whenever he had an interview or a shift from morning till evening as needed until he can land a steady job. His sister was a little shy at first, but I’ve grown on her and I swear she’s the light of my day. I haven’t really made time for my own family, things have been rocky. But it really feels good to be taking care of someone and needed by somebody, and she’s absolutely adorable. The problem though is, we’ve been working this system for coming about two years. I still watch her, but he will often stick around with us given the chance. Most of the time, he’ll just come over with her if he can. They’ll even spend the night. He’s called me his family, that he wouldn’t know what he’d do without me. It’s already deep in a gray area of just what do we mean to each other, but recently i’ve been catching hints. He’s more touchy around me, nothing inappropriate, but it’s apparent cus he’s not a touchy guy. He’s always asking me what i’m doing and if we can meet up. And over time personal space just doesn’t seem to be a second thought. He’s always leaning against me or by me. It’s been on my mind a lot, I guess it’s my fault for getting myself so involved, I just wanted to help because I could. Even our friends had mistaken us as a couple, and it’s gotten to the point that he’s “joked” about how we “might as well be together at this point”. It’s not like I can’t see myself staying like this, I just hadn’t thought of him that way before and it’s a lot to consider. I have absolutely no fucking clue what to do, how I should bring this up? should I bring this up? I don’t wanna mess up what we have going on now. But I feel like an idiot walking around in circles like this. I’ve gotten so caught up in the routine of it all I hadn’t really considered how all of this would end up. Any advice would be appreciated, though I doubt it because i’d imagine no one would be stupid enough to let this go on as long as I have.

TL;DR: I’ve been babysitting for an old friend for almost two years and I think he caught feelings and now I don’t know what to do