Take a time out.

It's easy after a fight with a friend to storm off and brood about things before actually apologizing. For many reasons, it's a good idea to allow some cooling off time after getting into a disagreement with someone. It allows emotions and tempers to settle and friends to see things more clearly.

While it's important to take some time out for yourself, be careful not to take too much time. If you drag out the argument, you both get a chance to become more resentful and angrier over the issue, which can lead to blowing it out of proportion. Not only that, but your friend might think you are still angry if you don't give an apology where one is due. As a general rule, it's a good idea to resolve the fight on the same day. But it's also important to respect people's space. If you want to make amends but your friend still needs time to cool down, that should be respected.

Don't dwell on the bad.

After a fight with a friend, it's easy to feel wronged. However, unless they have done something completely unacceptable, remember all of your friend's good qualities. Even after a fight, remember that you still care about and love your friend-an argument or disagreement is not going to change that.

Apologize if you need to.

If you were in the wrong, or if you said hurtful things to your friend, it's important that you apologize. Avoid trying to rationalize your behavior by saying things like, "Well, you were rude too," or "This was more your fault than mine."

At the same time, don't apologize just to move past the argument. If you honestly don't believe you've done anything wrong, you should calmly explain that to your friend. But take time to make sure that's really the case.

Talk it out

Once you have both cooled off, you should each take turns apologizing if you were wrong and explain where you were coming from. Often times, fights and arguments with friends are just the result of a misunderstanding. When discussing what went wrong, be sure to be honest and open. When it's time for your friend to talk, listen. Don't think about what you're going to say next, but listen to your friend so you can understand where he or she is coming from.

Learn from the argument.

After a fight, it's important to take something from it. Maybe you recognize behavior in yourself you want to change, or make a note of things that your friend is sensitive about.

Fights are part of relationships. However, they don't mean the end of things. It's important to make amends after an argument with friends so you can move on quickly and get back to being good friends. In doing so, you strengthen your friendship.