It feels WEIRD if any of our family members directly says "I love you." or something similar. Not to mention if a friend would say it. 😱 (We said it during the weekend with a friend and it was nice but very weird. And I couldn't help but joke about it first before saying it back.)

The phrase "I love you." is mostly limited to romantic partners and in that context it's normal and easy to use. (But tbh at least for me, it still feels super weird to say it to a romantic partner if someone else is there to hear it...)