I got promoted above my old peers and now everything is awkward. What do I do?

The awkwardness is real and it is not your fault. Yesterday you were one of them, complaining together and swapping gossip. Today you set the direction and hold the standard. The relationship changed the moment the title did, and pretending it did not just makes everyone tiptoe. What feels like a personal rift is really two people adjusting to new roles at the same time. The kindest thing you can do is name it rather than let it fester. Your old peers are watching to see who you will become: someone who acts like nothing changed and satisfies no one, or someone who is honest that things are different and still treats them with respect. You do not have to choose between the friendship and the job. You do have to be clear that the job now shapes how you show up. Have one honest conversation with each person who matters. Say plainly that you value them, that the working relationship has changed, and that you want to do it well. Ask how they would like to work together now. That directness clears more air than months of careful avoidance, and it lets the respect survive the shift in roles.