Yes, my ex and I were friends before we dated.  Actually I was trying to fix him up with a friend of mine.  She had a huge crush on him, but he was not interested in her at all.  He later confessed to me, he had a huge crush on me but was scared to say anything to me.  At first I turned him down when he asked me out, because I felt weird that my friend wanted him and he did not want her.

We eventually became a couple for 2yrs and it was the dumbest thing I could have done.  He was a great friend, but a horrible boyfriend.  I stayed with him, because I didn't want to loose his friendship and I knew he would not want to be friends with me, if I broke-up with him.  I couldn't take it anymore and broke up with him.  As predicted, he told me he never wanted to see or speak to me again.