after reading the seperate piece, would you classify the relationship between finny and gene as friendship

It is a friendship but not a particularly healthy one. They are both dependent on each other's friendship and support throughout the novel. Their co-dependence turns out to be rather obsessive. They both value each other's strengths (Gene - intellectualism; Finny - athleticism). They are both competitive but in different things. There seems to be undercurrents of a homoerotic relationship between the two that adds tension to the relationship.