you dont.
dont pretend to be friends
dont hide and dont lie
find out what was missing in your relationship before. obviously you are bad at paying attention to your partner
because your "very strong" relationship just happened to break up (which is bullshit).
if you stay "just friends" then it will either work out for you as in you stop pretending and get together again
or you stay friends and it wont work out and you will continue to hurt yourself.
Pretending to be friends therefor is no good idea.
im not saying you cant stay friends. im just saying you should make it obvious that you want him. and communicate that.
Lieing doesnt get you anywhere you want.
If you think I am insulting you with my post or bashing you: You do not get the point.
I am not here to insult or bash anyone. I offer up my free time to help. Take from my post what is useful to you.
If you are angry about my post or myself, then please stop and think how that happened. Usually that is the way the brain responds if a critical belief system is challenged (its called cognitive dissonance). If you have trouble with it please answer in the thread. I will come back to you.