Ben and Maddi met at the homeless shelter. He looked like a homeless person. She looked like someone who might be into that look.

Neither being well-suited to normal conversation, she commented on his shoes, and they stumbled along in awkwardness. At the end of her volunteer shift, she said, "We should go climbing sometime." He said, "Yeah."

He scrounged for her number from another shelter employee, and they went climbing. Later, they watched Star Wars together. They shared their interests, both attempting to sound cooler than they were.

Ben proudly demonstrated his stockpile of medieval weapons and his bright red sports car while Maddi displayed her vast rock collection and fascination with weird anime shows. They climbed and camped and went to reptile expos. To the outside observer, it may have appeared sad--like two ducks that don't realize they're both the ugly ducks--but they seemed to be really into each other.

Over the next four years, their love would blossom into the strange yet beautiful but still very strange flower it is today. Other people look at them and think, 'Oh. That's so... cute. She seems to be trying to bite him while he's making really misogynistic comments about her. I can tell they really love each other.'

Photos coming soon!