The question which has been running through my mind for quite a long time and I write this Answer more for myself than for you.

Love and friendship is often regarded as two separate entities.But are they really that different? Love is defined as having a great affection or liking for someone and isn't that what friendship is supposed to be? Atleast it should if one removes the adjective 'great'. You don't befriend some random person without some liking, do you?. By the way, I don't consider befriending as what people do in online chat rooms. I meant BEFRIENDING. I hope you got what I was trying to say.

So only after this initial attraction or liking, you will get to know each other. And I suppose this is what happens in Love. Till now both represent the same area in a Love-Friendship Venn diagram. Now that you got attracted, you start talking. But that alone does not grow your relationship. No opposite gender will consider you as a good friend unless there is some level of trust, affection, security and mutual sharing. But isn't these expected in Love too? Yeah, now you can scratch your heads.

Till now both Love and friendship are just same things running parallelly. But then you don't fall in Love with all those whom are friends with. So there is something that now comes that makes you think that he/she is that perfect one whom you want to live all the life.

Now this mystical attraction could be the reason why you in the first case approached or this could be the one that can pop out of now where making you go all crazy and upside down. That would be the point where Love branches out of the friendship stream and takes its own course. Now this mystical attraction could be the one of those characteristics or a special care and Love you might have yearned for years. Or it could appear to be reason less. But I am always biased to the latter part where in the mystical attraction comes after knowing them for a particular time. I feel that's what makes your Love built on a strong foundation, but then this is purely my belief and reasoning. Anyway anything it might be, but you could strongly feel the difference when you are in Love and when you are just a friend.