Best friends come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities and fit different roles as needed. True best friends vary in their special qualities, but what all friendships have in common is the warm feeling you get from knowing that your bestie has your back. Remember to let them know how much you appreciate everything they do for you.

Oftentimes you enjoy your best friends' presence so much that you don’t want them to leave. Even if you’re not together, you’re texting, and when something funny happens, they’re the first people you tell. In general, you just feel better being around them, and they make tasks like homework more enjoyable, even if you’re not talking much. Best friends are the people you can spend an entire day with and miss them when you finally part ways. It might not make sense, but the separation issues are real.

Best friends binge-watch shows with you and make you feel less lazy while doing so. They share their dorm room twin-size bed with you because you feel comfortable enough with each other to cuddle. Best friends are the people you make an effort to get lunch with during each of your brief breaks at home, and if you don’t have the same breaks because you go to different colleges, they're the people you drive for hours to see because you can’t bear to be away from them any longer.

Best friends are the people in your life who push you to be the best version of yourself. Best friends make you feel confident enough to be yourself around them — dance, sing, joke, eat, or cry all you want — they’ll be there for you. Best friends also make you laugh harder than anyone else does.

Your best friends have the uncanny ability to understand that you’re struggling even if you don’t tell them you are — and they will go out of their way to listen and give you advice. That said, they will also give you reality checks, whether you want them to or not.

Best friends understand and support your goals and enthusiasm for your passions. Best friends cherish watching you grow into the person you’ve always tried to be and accomplishing the things you’ve set out to do. Maybe this is why compliments from best friends hold a greater weight than courtesies from other people in your life. Some best friends remember things about you that you wouldn't have expected anyone to remember. The biggest compliment is having a friend who knows you better than anyone else and cares enough to remember things about you.

Best friends are always down to hang out. You can text them late at night and ask if they want to go for a night drive, pick them up, and be on your way for an hour filled with good music and conversation. They will get your favorite food with you (Chipotle), even if they know you’ve already had it three times this week. They’ll go to the grocery store with you for two things and inevitably leave the store with you an hour later with an overflowing cart. They’ll jam to '90s music with you and, if you’re lucky, they’ll watch Shania Twain music videos with you, both ironically and lovingly. For these reasons and more, best friends are people you don’t mind doing favors for; it’s not a burden to pick them up from other friends’ houses or drive them somewhere. This giving nature is reciprocated because best friends have or will at some point or another give you something you’ll treasure forever — a paddle from your sorority Little, a shot book page or letter on your birthday, or what you consider to be the best present ever, simply because it was from them.

Best friends are the people you want to be in your life for a long time, and even though you can't be sure how the future will play out, simply knowing you want them to stick around is meaningful. Try your hardest to not go too long without talking or seeing each other, and always remember how lucky you are to have found your best friends! Write them a thank you letter or tell them what they mean to you.