As 2017 came to a close, Jack and Brian sat at the 99 Restaurant and caught up over a couple of drinks. Jack had been dating Shelby for a few years and Brian was single, but as they talked, there were some pretty clear signs that 2018 would be a year to remember. Brian asked for an update on if anything was new. Shelby was away celebrating Christmas with her family, but she had celebrated Thanksgiving with their family only a month before. Jack remained pretty discrete about any plans, but said he was happy to have the whole family together and was glad everything went smoothly. Meanwhile, Brian started to get a little distracted on his phone. He was smiling and typing rapidly in a way that just seemed very different. Jack noticed and asked who he was talking to. Brian said it was just a girl named Laura, who he had met at church a couple weeks before. She went to Villanova and spent summers growing up at a camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. While Brian might not have known it yet, there was definitely a spark there and Jack knew it.

For Laura, December 8th 2017 started out as an ordinary day. She woke up, went to work at the hospital and was then supposed to meet her women's small group at a friend's house for a small get together with a men's small group from her church. As she was leaving work after a long day, Laura was texting with a friend about how she was thinking of skipping the party because she was tired. Her friend said, "you should go, you might meet someone cute". Laura's reply was that there was no way that was possible, since she thought she already knew all the guys in the group. Little did she know how wrong she was.

At the party, Laura noticed a cute blonde haired guy she had never met before. When she overheard him talking about Georgetown basketball, Laura interrupted his conversation to ask him why he liked Georgetown as they were not a very good team. Brian seemed quite surprised at Laura's bold statement but she quickly told him that she had gone to Villanova (a big rival of Georgetown) and was a huge basketball fan. They spent the rest of the night talking basketball and after she got home, Laura knew she wanted to know more about this guy.

Laura and Brian bumped into each other a week later when Laura's friend Amy secretly arranged to have them meet after a small group meeting. They picked up their conversation right where they left off at the party and it was clear to everyone listening to the conversation that there was something special there.

Brian was home in Boston for Christmas and Laura was working at the hospital but that didn't stop them from getting to know each other. Laura had reached out to Brian to wish him a Merry Christmas and their conversation continued from there. They found out how much they had in common and soon made plans for a first date after New Years. They talked for so long on the first date 2 different restaurants kicked them out because they were closing and the rest is history!