Some love stories begin with a spark. Ours began with a friendship. We met in middle school, when neither of us had any idea what the future had in store. We became best friends, more like brother and sister than anything else. Somewhere along the way, Dalton decided he wanted to be more than friends and asked me to be his girlfriend. I said no. Thankfully, that wasn’t the end of our story. We stayed friends, and as the years passed, our friendship grew into something neither of us could ignore. In high school, we finally became a couple. We were the couple everyone thought would make it. The kind of love that seemed destined to last forever. Until it didn’t. Life had other plans for us. We went our separate ways, not because we didn’t care about each other, but because we needed time to grow. We needed to learn who we were, experience life, make mistakes, and discover what truly mattered. Though our paths led us in different directions, a piece of our hearts always seemed to be missing. Years later, we found our way back to each other. With more life experience, more wisdom, and a deeper appreciation for what we had, we realized what had been missing all along: each other. The friendship that started in middle school had grown into a love strong enough to withstand time, distance, and life’s twists and turns. What once felt like the end of our story was really just the beginning of a new chapter. Now, after all these years, we’re standing exactly where we’re meant to be. Side by side, planning our wedding, and preparing to spend the rest of our lives together. Some people spend a lifetime searching for their person. We were lucky enough to find ours in middle school.