A good way of assessing whether something is a close friendship or the beginnings of an emotional affair is to ask yourself whether you’d be happy for your partner to see your communications with the person. If there’s anything that makes you feel like you want to hide it or don’t want them to know about the amount you talk or what you’re saying then that’s a pretty good sign (barring relationships with someone who is incredibly jealous and possessive).When I say emotional cheating it’s just semantics, and my way of distinguishing between a friendship and when it gets to be something more, but not a full blown physical relationship. If you’re feeling guilty for it, then you’re already crossing a line and on that territory IMO. I think it’s quite subjective though, I know of some couples that have very loose boundaries with regards to this stuff
Emotional affairs are a world away from a close friendship. In many cases they can be more damaging and hurtful than short term physical flings.