Lovers are absorbed in each other.  They stare at each other and they talk about their love for each other.  C.S. Lewis said that friendships have to be about more than each other (The Four Loves).  Friends stare at something else, something in common.  Friends talk about something else, they talk about what they both have in common.  It’s their common interest(s) that drives their friendship further.  A friendship has to be about something: “Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travelers” (The Four Loves).

It seems to me that lovers can be going nowhere and be pretty happy.  Where are you going?  Is anyone going with you?