Meet in the tutoring lab. Start studying together sometimes. Decide to take the same chemistry class. Never show up because its at 8am. Take him to your work holiday party because your boyfriend is out of town (pictured). Buy him a bottle of wine to enjoy with his girlfriend as a thank you.

Semester ends. Stay friends. Catch up over dinner every few months. Go to London and bring him back a magnet that looks like him. He goes to Thailand and brings you back a fake $2 Daniel Wellington watch. Meet at el rey for taco Tuesday and notice for the first time that he is taller than you. Go to his mom’s wedding as his date. Leave early to meet the guy that you are dating at another wedding. Go to Paris and bring him back macaroons for his birthday. He cooks you dinner at his new place as a thank you. Have everything change.

After years of defending your friendship to everyone, start dating. Wonder why it feels so normal. Sit on a bench in Rittenhouse park after your first date to call your mom and tell her that you found the guy you are going to marry (she is delighted to learn that it's your friend Andrew). Fall in love. Realize you were in love the entire time. (pictured at same work holiday party 3 years later)

Support each other through school, residency, and everything else in-between. Spend a few years apart in distance but feel closer than ever. Have what started as your best friend become your North star.

And finally, in the very same park where you called your mom all those years ago, say yes.