Our Story

Emily met Lillian, her sister, at her birth. Lillian did not have much choice in the matter.

Nick met Ethan on their freshman year dorm hall, where they lived only two doors down from each other. Ethan did not have much choice in his new friend being a damn Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Both of these pairs built fast friendships and soon found themselves doing everything together: Emily/Lillian following each other from grade to grade, Ethan/Nick from bar to bar.

How exactly these pairs first came intertwined is another story to be told, but suffice to say Ethan met Lillian on spring break in 2020, and Nick was too busy working on his beer can pyramid to see an important domino fall towards the rest of his life.

~

Despite Lillian’s rather explicit instructions to not hit on Emily when she came up from Statesboro to visit, Nick was very much interested in hitting on Emily.

Fuzzy’s wouldn’t strike anyone as the establishment to meet the love of your life (unless it’s a quesadilla at 3AM), but nevertheless Nick and Emily met over chips and salsa alongside Lillian, Ethan, and Emily’s friend Savannah.

Nick thought Emily was even more stunning in person.

Emily didn’t know who the goofy blonde guy that kept eyeing her was.

Bites at Fuzzy’s eventually led to a party at Ethan’s house, which gave Nick a home-field advantage at the cost of increased competition for another friend equally dismissive of Lillian’s instructions. Drinks and laughs were aplenty, until Emily made her early exit as the designated driver for the night. This left Nick and his friend moping in the kitchen and wondering out loud how the party had gotten so dull all the sudden.

Thankfully, Emily still had to return the next morning to collect cars and Nick made sure to make the most out of the opportunity, cooking her and Savannah breakfast in hopes at least Emily’s stomach would still remember him.

~

Holidays and finals came and went before this pair communicated once more. Emily contends she had expected to hear from Nick via Snapchat, which Nick had unfortunately deleted. But once again Ethan wasn’t going to let his friend’s fate get stuck in the mud over something so silly. He had organized a winter break get together at Halcyon and if Lillian was coming, why couldn’t Emily? All Nick had to do was drop a line.

Alas, a meetup at Halcyon did not come to pass but that didn’t stop Nick from finding another time for them to meet in Athens. Surely she’d want to see her sister again! A poke, a prod, a dance, a dalliance and soon it was to be that Emily would come into town as Nick’s date for his fraternity semi-formal (Casino Night!). Emily assured Nick he was only a sideshow to meeting her sister and that if she must, Emily would happily take free drinks off a fraternity’s hands. As they say, all you need is a chip and chair, and Nick intended to win this hand.

~

A taco dinner before the festivities. A pregame with friends. Plenty of casino games and dancing. Nick learning just how many songs Emily could perfectly sing or rap along to. An after party back at Ethan’s house. Another return for cars and breakfast in the morning. Almost just as Nick had pictured it!

Nick couldn’t believe his luck. He found a girl as playful and fiercely independent as him, and who captured the admiration of everyone in whatever room she walked into. Nick didn’t want to get ahead of himself, but he couldn’t wait for another chance to see her.

Thankfully it seemed Emily felt the same, as she reached out the next week asking when she could see him again, “that she might already be missing him.” Lillian herself was shocked to see that message come from the sister she thought she knew well, but Nick was already packing his bags to head down to Statesboro for a visit.

Emily showed Nick all her favorite food spots, took him down the Savannah riverwalk for his first time, and ultimately ended with a lunch together on Sunday where the pair both detailed their apprehensions with long distance relationships. Neither could deny their connection however and so the three hour trips back and forth between their campuses continued through the spring.

~

“So why haven’t you asked me to be your girlfriend yet?”

Nick was decidedly not prepared for the question. Not because he was not yet ready for commitment, rather he felt pretty confident in his read that Emily would run for the hills if he moved too fast.

But Nick still had lots to learn about Emily, especially how matters such as this would be decided on her schedule and not his. Nick quickly found his footing and made clear his commitment towards her.

When questioned after the fact, Emily agreed she would have sprinted for the hills if Nick had asked earlier and gone back to Statesboro in pursuit of better prospects if he had waited any longer. Nick was very appreciative to squeeze through this tight window.

The young couple was ecstatic to stop explaining what the “talking stage” means to their parents. But Nick wasn’t out of the woods just yet, unbeknownst to him Emily had taken out a 90-day return policy on him. She proudly informed him of how easily she could send him packing in this window. Nick wasn’t aware of such policies before but enjoyed the challenge, a perspective that would serve him well as he continuously encountered the numerous male figures in Emily’s life (and their playful tales of how short they could make Nick’s life).

In Emily’s case, Nick’s family welcomed her with open arms and zero threats of violence. Each of her jokes met uproarious laughter and she received glowing reviews after each meeting. Lucky her.

Unsurprisingly, Nick beat the 90-day count and smugly gifted Emily a “return policy” card with a big red VOID stamp. He thought he was quite clever. Emily, meanwhile, was playing the long game.

~

A delightful year of romantic dates, sunshine, and laughter passed. Nick survived his first lake season without a mysterious drowning. And Emily had planned a lovely trip to Helen in North Georgia for some wine tasting and natural sight seeing.

Nick was quite in love with Emily and quite sure she felt the same for him. He felt there was a real chance at forever with this girl and only hoped she had equal intentions with him.

During the year, Emily learned how Nick enjoyed expressing his love through words, both written and spoken. Nick always had his English teacher of a mother to thank for his strength with a pen. Emily never professed to be good with words, and so her gift to Nick on their 1 year anniversary left him speechless.

Emily had kept a journal throughout the first year of their relationship, writing about special dates and moments in their lives. She wrote about how much she loved Nick and how excited she was to live life with him. Nick was astounded at the commitment and care Emily expressed to him with this gift, especially given it wasn’t a self-described strength of hers. Nick realized Emily was in it for the long haul too, and started saving for a ring that day.

~

“So why haven’t you proposed to me yet?”

Nick was decidedly prepared for this question. He certainly did not expect Emily to be asking it at 2 AM in a dance club in Barcelona, Spain. But Emily is ready when she is ready.

And so bit by bit, Nick began making his preparations and ample diversions to keep the ever snoopy Emily at bay. Planned trips to the Great Smokies, Savannah, and Boston kept her on her toes. Family members were involved to plan and plant lies in her head on the actual timing (they enjoyed this part greatly). And all the while Nick kept a journal of his own over the course of the preparations, intending to repay Emily’s 1 year anniversary gift with all the secrets and moments that had happened right under her nose.

On the morning of November 10th 2023, Nick got Emily out the door in the nicest clothes he could slyly convince her to wear on a rainy (yikes) day with a mission: to find her a jumbo margarita.

While Nick had done his best to throw Emily off the trail, he did not underestimate the girl that binge watched detective shows. But he could hope to dull her fine tuned spidey senses.

Margarita secured, Nick took Emily to a dog park (that also conveniently had beer). This was doubly effective to pass time for the rain to clear (Nick did not have a rain plan for his outdoor proposal) and for Emily to be distracted by the dogs enough not to notice Nick shitting his pants.

Thankfully, the rain began to temper and Nick successfully pulled Emily away from the dog park without dognapping any of the furry friends. The couple drove to Murphy Candler Park close to their apartment where they had started their lives together in Atlanta and where Nick intended to make a promise for the rest of their lives.

Only Find My Friends stood in the way of that being a complete surprise. Emily inexplicably had her Uncle Tom’s location and noticed he was in Atlanta (instead of his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio). Nick did not even know Uncle Tom would be able to come to the planned family celebration the next day, and so his genuine reaction to the news was surprise as well. A mystery to solve at a later time, now please get out of the car and take a walk.

Nick took Emily’s hand and walked her to the shore of the park’s pond. He told her many sweet things that Emily does not remember in the slightest (she blacked out when she realized what was happening). He opened the ring box and asked her to marry him. He then flipped the ring box right side up and asked her to marry him. And she said yes!

Nick and Emily celebrated this special moment with siblings, family, friends, many of whom that traveled near and far to be there for them. In truth, this is what brought the greatest joy to Nick and Emily on that special weekend: the love and presence of those who meant so much to them, there to celebrate the joy and devotion Nick and Emily share.

~

What have Emily and Nick been doing since then, you ask?

You mean aside from planning a wedding?

I guess Emily has saved a life or two in her spare time. Nick has really only had time to write this story.

So we really hope you come! And bring your best dancing shoes! There will be an open bar!