Have you ever heard the term "safe place" when it comes to friendship? It means safe emotionally. Your friendship should be a place where you know you can be truthful and if you tell your friend something personal, it won't get blabbed to the rest of the neighborhood.
Safety also comes from handling arguments effectively. Have you ever had a disagreement with someone and then instead of working it out with you, they just start running their mouth about you to others instead? It definitely doesn't motivate you to work things out, does it?
I have a lot of friends who talk to everyone else when they are bothered by something, instead of the person they have the issue with. It's human nature, I guess, to feel skittish about being direct with someone. But anytime you fail to give a friend the common courtesy of talking with them first when something is wrong, they lose trust in you. Even if they are the ones that did something wrong, you are the one that chips away at trust if you run to other people.
Safety is simply about making your friend feel that no matter what, you are going to behave in a respectful way toward them and toward your friendship as a whole. Here's how to do that.