"Date" -As someone that has spent his fair share of time in the "friend zone", that makes complete sense to me. I've always liked the phrase "top-shelf", as in You'll like Saydrah, she's top-shelf, a class act, the bees-knees.
I admit that one was why I posted this. I just had someone I've known for literally 18 years (I'm 24) ask me to "grab lunch" in a Facebook message. His behavior toward me makes clear he's been nursing a crush for a long time, and it is SO frustrating that he won't just SAY so. I mean, the fact that he doesn't have my number after knowing me for 75% of my life is probably a clue that the feeling isn't mutual, but if I assume he's asking me on a date when he hasn't said so and explain that I'm not into him, his sister (my childhood best friend) will hear about it immediately and be mad at me for assuming her brother meant it "that way." Which, clearly he does. ARGH! I like "the bees-knees," too, and I like your choice of punctuation for it.
Hey, it's the journey not the destination. There's a scene in the movie Swingers where Jon Favreau's character says in regards to his break up that after he got over it, he "missed the pain". As if the pain of the breakup had become a companion. Perhaps having a "crush" is the same thing? The pain you get from the unrequited love becomes a companion, something that is familiar and consistent, a definition of you that proves that you exist and gives you cause to carry on. If he were to ask you on a date and you said "no", that could shatter all of that. Better to live with his familiar "crush".