The story starts during an interview back in 2018. I was interviewing for an RA position on campus at school since there were a couple open and who doesn't love free room and board? Sure enough, Brandon was one of the folks interviewing me. This was the first time we had met (according to me, if you ask Brandon he'll say otherwise) and the interview went very well. I ended up getting the job and being on the same staff with Brandon. Later, I would find out that he had pushed for me to be in his building - for no reason other than they needed someone good on staff. In the coming months working together, our bond grew and we became friends. Before summer break, Brandon actually made me cry a bit as we said good-bye. We wouldn't be on the same staff again and I would only catch him in passing on campus in the coming 2019-2020 school year. Needless to say, I wasn't going to really see him again until late 2020 due to the pandemic.

Starting off the 2020-2021 school year was a bit rough. Most of my friends had graduated as I had to stay an extra year for my additional major and we were adapting to post-pandemic life as college students, not to mention RAs. Thankfully, it was easy to create bonds with other RAs (who are actually in the wedding party - shoutout to Austin and John) and of course, it was like Brandon and I's friendship didn't miss a beat. We picked up right where we left off -teasing each other, goofing off together, and telling VERY bad dad jokes.

Brandon being the very nice person that he is, knew that it'd be a rough year since I wouldn't have many friends left on campus and wanted me to feel included in things. So, he took it upon himself to ask me to start going running with him a couple days a week. This worked perfectly as we're both former cross country runners. Now, I'm not sure if it was the sweat coming off of us or dedicating 3 hours of my life each week to seeing Brandon but our friendship was building again.

By late 2020, I had an inkling that I may just want a little more than a friendship with Brandon. Not only was he one of the best people I knew, but spending time with him just felt right. I always left feeling better than I did when I saw him. I could goof off with him or have an in-depth conversation about our problems, the world, etc. He remembered all the nonsense I said and I did my best to remember his too.

One day, during our run, much like any other day, Brandon attempted to push me down a hill. Granted it was snowy so it wouldn't have been bad, but I grabbed his hand for stability. This is when he knew that there might be something more here.

A couple months later, it was almost the end of the school year. We'd graduate and I didn't know if I'd ever see Brandon again. So, I decided to shoot my shot. I told Brandon I had feelings and he said something along the lines of "I just want to vibe". Which I mean, it's almost the end of the school year so, makes sense. But when he got out of the car after our run that day, he wanted to chat more about it... and then I got quarantined.

My roommate had tested positive for the Vid and I was quarantined for ten days. Instead of being stuck in my room, I decided to go home for those ten days since I didn't have Covid. That brings us to Easter 2021.

Easter 2021 was a typical one, except I was bored by 6 or 7pm so I called up Austin and asked if he wanted to go to Pittsburgh. He said he would bring the rest of the crew. By this point Austin knew that there were romantic aspirations between Brandon and I, so he attempted to push us together to talk about it during our Pittsburgh excursion that night. Brandon and I agreed to take this relationship for a test drive to see where it takes us and here we are!

A little over 2 years of dating and joking about when we'd get married later, Brandon proposed. He asked me to marry him on campus, at -our- spot, where we had our first date - star gazing. It was truly perfect.