How long did it take you to say "I love you" to your boyfriend?

 Well I'm 16, and I'm one of those people that are against teens falling in love in high school because it's usually pointless. Well I'm unfortunately turning into one of those girls that do fall in love in high school. My boyfriend first told me that he loved me 2 months into our relationship, and I told him that I wasn't ready for that, but here I am 7 months later thinking I am. Me not loving him back put a slight stain on our relationship, and that strain grew with each passing month. The thing is, I may possibly love him now. We've been dating for 9 months, and I can clearly remember when I was strongly infatuated with him...like every time we hung out was so we had an opportunity to make out or to do stuff, and now, I'm just happy being near him alone just to talk. We've been through so much crap in our relationship and we've somehow managed through it. The problem for me is, I don't want to admit that I may love him because I'm still against falling in love while in high school. I'd hate to be one of those girls...and it's stopping me from saying it, because EVERYONE (mainly my parents) is expecting me to be one of those silly girls who fall in love and end up with a heart break. I'm doing my best to prevent that, so part of me thinks I love him, and the other half thinks I don't...
​So...what's your opinion on my situation ??
​And
​How long did it take you to say the L word?