Once upon a time, in a high school far, far away (Long Beach High School), there were two teenagers named M. Taylor and Avery. They were in a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. For three years, their friendship grew stronger, through involvement in theater and leadership of the school's gender and sexuality alliance. All the while, Taylor flirted terribly with Avery and Avery had the mercy not to notice.

Eventually came the closing night of our heroes' senior musical: Shrek the Musical (hence the subtle, yet distinct theme of this event). When Taylor went to give Avery a celebratory kiss on the cheek, he turned his head, accidentally causing them to kiss him on the lips. Did sparks fly? Did the assembled crowd burst into applause? No. But this did make it clear that kissing was an option between these two friends.

Three months of awkward friendship followed, wherein the kisses became deliberate and on May twenty-ninth of 2015, the relationship that became the engagement that brought you to this website became official.

Taylor and Avery grew up together, navigating college, early jobs, graduate school, and all of the lessons those brought as true partners.

If you've stuck with the story for this long, enjoy a bonus story: the nearlyweds love to write together: short stories, Dungeons and Dragons campaigns, a potential novel (!), and this story. This draft began on the evening of January twenty-eighth, 2023, when Avery and Taylor were quarantined with covid. The process brought them hours of much-needed entertainment.