Veronica and I were raised in the same city, grew up on the same side of town, and went to the same schools, but we never met. Not until after high school, after we graduated. We were drawn to each other right away and became friends instantly. I admired her beauty, her confidence in groups, and her enthusiasm about music and art. Veronica liked my kindness, the way I spoke to others, and how I always made her laugh and feel comfortable.

Our feelings of friendship quickly moved to attraction and desire. But we would never say our feelings out loud because there was always something in the way. One of us always seemed to be involved in another relationship, so we pushed our feelings away and called it a crush.

Some time passed, and Veronica and I found ourselves single at the same time. We started spending all our free time together, going to happy hour, visiting friends, helping each other look for apartments, and just living life. One night, we finally had the courage to kiss. But of course, life doesn’t make things so simple. Although we wanted something to come of our kiss, we went separate ways for many years. However, we never left each other's hearts and thoughts. Often in private, we would think of each other.

Years came and went; we built our own stories, developed our own characters, and had our own experiences. We both had ups and downs over the years, always searching for happiness. Still, we would cross each other's minds.

Several years later, we crossed paths again. Though our feelings made the start of our conversation awkward, we quickly moved past that and talked as if no time had passed at all.

One night, we decided that nothing was going to stand in our way this time. We could not hold back our love anymore. We shared all our feelings about each other, our desires, and our fantasies of building a life together. Since that moment, we have been the happiest we have ever been. We began to join our separate stories into one.