Kathryn and Amber met in 2014 through a mutual friend and quickly hit it off, becoming close friends. But then life took a twist when Amber moved to Alaska for work, and they lost touch. Fast forward to Kathryn’s senior year in 2017: she decided to reach out and texted Amber to see if she wanted to hang out again. What started as a simple catch-up turned into something unexpected. They began secretly dating, fully aware that their relationship would have an expiration date once Kathryn graduated. As May rolled around, Kathryn moved to Missouri while Amber stayed in Chattanooga. They agreed to go their separate ways and not contact each other, and four years slipped by with no communication. They kept tabs on each other through social media, each secretly imagining what life could have been like if circumstances had been different. Then, Kathryn made the decision to move to Chattanooga in 2022. She had no plans to contact Amber; in fact she has specific plans to NOT contact Amber, but life had other ideas. While on a trip to Oregon that summer, she found herself doing all the outdoorsy things they used to enjoy together. Unable to get her out of her mind, she sent Amber a text asking if there was any chance they could be "just friends" again. Amber replied that she wasn’t sure, but she was open to trying. (Reader: they were not able to be "just friends.") Slowly but surely, they rekindled a connection that had never truly faded. They realized how rare it is to experience a love like theirs, let alone get a second chance at it. Soon, they were officially dating, coming out publicly a year later. The morning of August 31st (a year to the day of the wedding!) they each proposed to one another. Three years after they started dating again and 11 years after they first became friends, they'll be married.