On March 6, 2021, a mutual friend hosted a birthday bonfire at her house. Even though we went to different schools, many of our friends overlapped, so the night already felt familiar. Will arrived with his cousin Rusty—who, funny enough, Cate had known since seventh grade.

Rusty introduced us, and from that moment we ended up talking the rest of the night. After Will left the party, Cate stayed over with her friend. In the middle of the night, some of the girls came in excited, saying, “Will really wants your number!” So we started texting… and quickly discovered we lived less than two miles apart.

We began hanging out right away and officially started dating on March 20, 2021—just two weeks later. We’ve been inseparable ever since.