This is the story of how Andrew and Carley became best friends. This is also the story of how they accidentally fell in love.

The story begins in the guest parking lot of UMass Dartmouth in fall of 2011. It was the beginning of Carley’s senior year in high school. She was visiting a friend who had just started their freshman year at UMD and was eager to introduce her to their new friends.

The first “new friend” Carley met, was Andrew. He awkwardly accompanied the friend to the parking lot, where he was introduced affectionately as "Asshole". Subsequently, this is how he would be entered into Carley’s phone. Little did they know that this would become a decade long inside joke, or that this first awkward encounter would change the course of their lives.

While it would be another year before they began hanging out in earnest, they still often engaged in the same social circles and found themselves chatting about shared interests at UMD parties and collectively running to pet nearby dogs.

Once Carley began her college journey at Bridgewater State University, their friendship truly set sail. They would often go for walks around a nearby park. Or practice whatever martial art Carley was doing at the time in an Olive Garden parking lot (after eating all the soup and breadsticks). Or get ice cream at Somerset creamery. There were also UMD parties, anime nights, Four Year Strong concerts, and contra dances every other Friday (a fan favorite). There was never a dull moment. Yet, sometimes, the quietest moments were the sweetest.

Those quiet moments often came in the form of Carley’s favorite hobby—reading. Andrew learned that Carley identified as a writer and had a deep passion for words. He offered to read her creative writing. They would spend chunks of time together with Carley reading her latest creation to him while he quietly listened. If any of you write, or know what it’s like to proffer up bits of yourself via art on a silver platter, you realize how precious these moments really are. Over time, this blossomed into one of their favorite shared activities. In current day, it looks a bit different. There’s a 70 lb beast who likes to lounge across their laps now, heedless of the precious paper held in their hands. It’s no longer Carley’s latest creative works (who could keep up with that demand?!) but instead, their favorite published books.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all rainbows and puppies. Both Carley and Andrew’s sophomore years were riddled with obstacles and grief. In the midst of the chaos, they both chose, respectively, to be there. Looking back, it was probably the choice to prioritize the other during these hard times that gave them the initial boost from simply "friends" to something immensely more valuable: Someone you could rely on and trust when the fun stopped being ... fun.

It's safe to say that by the end of college, they'd been through a lot together. Bad break-ups, late night finals crunch, all manners of college shenanigans, a crazy Georgia road trip for a mini pot belly piglet, and so much more. As some of their friends like to point out, they were unknowingly setting the stones that would become their foundation.

But they weren’t done yet, not by a long shot. Adulthood was calling. They were off to the Grind. It’d be another eight years of similar exploits before they’d finally gather the courage to ask, “What if we dated?” Talk about a slow burn ... Turns out, risking such a precious friendship on a dynamic change is absolutely terrifying. But man, it is so worth it.