We actually met on Tinder. DeVaun 'super liked' me and I thought, 'a black nerd with glasses, bet' and we matched. From there, we talked on the app for a week before moving onto Snapchat. Black Panther had just come out and DeVaun had revealed that he had not seen it yet; which was crazy to hear, so I immediately asked him out on a movie date. On the day of our first date, I arrived hella early since my work on set wrapped up earlier than planned. D was still busy and I was tired, so I decided to take a nap in my car and that was NOT a good idea. When I woke up, I was 15 minutes late. I had texts and a call from DeVaun and I'm sure that poor baby thought I had ghosted him. Thankfully I caught up to him just before the movie started. He was a soft-spoken shawty, but he looked relieved when he saw me. But after he warmed up to me, he talked my ear off and made me feel the most safe I've ever felt walking at night in downtown Los Angeles. I remember going home that night and realizing how badly I wanted to see him again. I knew I was in trouble and I've been hooked ever since. - Ashanti

On August 14th 2022, Ashanti and I were heading out to dinner for our usual date night when they told me they're going to drive, before handing me a blindfold; this surprised me for obvious reasons, they don't like to drive. This drive felt very familiar until we arrived. I totally assumed that we were headed into a restaurant but when we got out of the car and started walking, it was silent. There was subtle shuffling of feet and my usual non-sense commentary as we are walking up to who knows where. Once Ashanti took off my blindfold, 'All The Stars' by SZA & Kendrick Lamar started playing. They handed me tickets to what I assumed was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but after taking a closer look at the tickets, I read the words 'will you marry me'. I was absolutely shocked when I saw those words and of course I said yes! I then turned around to see all of our family there and I broke down crying; being so loved is a gift that only others can give and it's the best feeling in the world. I held my brother crying for a good few minutes before I could pull myself together. This was the best surprise I could have ever asked for. -DeVaun