hopeless romantic?

So last night I was sitting at my desk just kinda thinking about a lot of stuff. One of these pathetic thoughts included am I gonna be alone for the rest of my life? This thought kinda scared me a little bit cause I really don't want that to happen. I know what a lot of people would say, omg your 18 you have your whole life ahead of you. But do I, that's the question. Anyway that's not the problem. The real problem is that I don't want to be alone now. I look around and many of my friends have someone to share their lives with, their hopes and dreams, and someone to talk to about their bad days. And yes I know I have good friends that would listen but they don't really listen. "Just a friend" is not gonna hold your hand at night as you fall asleep, or "whisper sweet nothings in my ear"(I know that one was corny but whateves), stand beside you to help you face this world, or do any of those things that a partner would do. This is what I want in my life, this is what I desperately need. The thing is I'm not that picky, nearly anyone would fill the role so I've decided the problem must be me. I need to learn how to put myself out there where real people are. Does anyone have advice about how to go about doing this? Maybe that's not the problem, maybe I don't even know what love is. Maybe I don't even know what I'm looking for to begin with? So how would I know if I found it? I wish there was an easy button for me to push cause I could really use it right about now. I am a monster who secretly dreams of beauty and love, secretly.