Y’all remember Lugz boots and Puka shell chokers, right? While Malik was going "from Helley Hansen to mini mansions," Nico met at a "Crossroads" road tripping to Andover from "the wild, Wild West." At boarding school, they shared experiences like the spirit squad, track, and being Black—but they rarely hung out. Two ships passing in the New England night.

Malik pokes Nico on the Internet. She doesn't respond. Malik pokes Nico, again, 6 years later. Still no response. And then, one day Malik pokes Nico again. Nope, no response.

Malik, now in the tri-state area, pokes Nico one more time. And...she RESPONDS! He, with a desire for "arts and culture" and a deep imperative to celebrate Black History Month, asks her to recommend some events at the Studio Museum in Harlem. She, excited by his interest "in her work", suggests that he attend Dapline, the BHM event she was looking forward to most. When they meet in the galleries, it is like no time—when all KINDSA time—had passed. Nico thinks to herself (in Malik's words) "#ooOoo, the boy done grown into a man." Meanwhile, Malik feels he traveled through time and space—and a few car breakdowns on the FDR—to arrive at (in Nico's words) “the girl-turned-woman of his dreams!” After the program, Nico invites Malik out for a drink at Paris Blues (with her co-workers). Within minutes, the rest of the bar fades to the background as the two of them catch up and laugh until Nico's jaw hurts. While this was not their first official date, it might as well have been. [Read also: Rachell and Alex's observations of true love on the rise.] Upon leaving the bar, Nico learns that Malik a). lives 2 hours away and b). has no car to carry him there (because, really, it broke down y'all!) She invites him back to her place to wait for the tow truck, where they find some leftover champagne and strawberries to munch on while the laughter continues into the night. Between jokes, recollections of high school and astrology readings, they begin to fall for one another. Malik sleeps in his car, Nico goes to bed, and the rest...

In the months after Dapline, Nico and Malik merge lives, glow'd up from the flo' up. Over many meals, the two discuss everything—equality, freedom, partnership, love, and...marriage. In these conversations, traditions fall aside and a forever-boo tattoo, signifying equality in partnership, emerges as their expression of eternal love and commitment. One Sunday morning, the two wake up, head to Sins and Needles, and request an inch-long line on each of their ring fingers. It hurts like nothing they've ever experienced, and later they coax away the pain with frozen margaritas while exchanging oaths of love and devotion. The ink settles. And, three weeks later, no love is lost when the forever-boo tattoo needs a touch-up.

Less than three months later, Nico and Malik grow their family. After scouring rescue sites, six-page applications, and home visits, they meet a litter of brothers in New Jersey. Among them, Max (soon-to-be Phife Dawg) is, in the words of his foster mom, drawn to Nico like "she was made of peanut butter!” Meanwhile, Malik sits in the corner of the pen, chicken sticks in hand but no puppies in sight.