Tara had no clue why this giggly man was shoving an earbud in her ear that blasted Stronger Than Me by Amy Winehouse. “It’s genius, if you listen closely,” he said confidently in the basement of Alexander Library. “I really love Amy.” She liked his passion, and she wasn’t worried about her exam, so why not indulge him?

Jake was shaking during his first opportunity to be with Tara alone, immediately regretting his song choice, his word choice, his persistence. She’s just trying to study – why are you making her listen to music, and then talking through the entire song?

Months later, Tara had no clue that Jake was back in Hillsdale for the holidays so, in a group text, she invited him over for an impromptu theater get-together with bagged wine and musical outbursts from A Chorus Line. Later that night, sitting on a couch stained with various juices while swaying to Chill Bill by Rob $tone, she decided to lean in and kiss the man who infected her with his giggles.

Jake ditched plans with family, rummaged through his clothes to pack up, and then left home within thirty minutes of getting a text from Tara. He would need to lie about the fact that he was driving an hour at 7:00 PM on a random Wednesday night to be with her because he didn’t want to jeopardize their budding friendship with a desperate move like this.

Years later, Tara walked into Jake’s family shore house with buffalo chicken dip she made for his sister’s birthday. She excitedly put on her favorite maroon pencil skirt after Jake offered to bring her to the lighthouse. She had been begging for him to bring her for years, and he finally remembered. She placed the dip in the fridge, indulged him in his incessant chattiness, and prepared to see Old Barney for the first time.

Jake was shaking during this time alone with Tara. He needed to lie about the reason they were driving down the shore on a Friday in the winter in an effort not to jeopardize something he had planned since that moment in Alexander Library. He was playing all the songs that had brought them together over the years, but then he was talking too loudly for her to hear any of them.

When they arrived at the lighthouse, Jake told Tara that he remembers every moment with her, every story. He remembered that she wanted to go to the lighthouse, but he chose not to bring her all those years they had vacationed down the shore. Because the first moment would be this moment, the moment he asks her to marry him (insert corny lighthouse metaphor here).

Tara and Jake’s story is a million different vignettes like these three, all of which are giggly, chatty, smart, stupid, caring, intentional, and emotional. And all of these vignettes come together to form a story of two people who want you to celebrate them by shaking your ass on the dance floor to Cardi B and ABBA disco.