On July 26, 2019 Hayden and Darian attended college orientation at the University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB), which also marks the day they first met. Despite being complete strangers, Hayden and Darian never once felt that way. Seated across from one another at lunch, conversation flowed without one awkward pause. Those seated around us, who would one day become some of our closest friends, commented on our undeniable attraction to one another. Despite our conversations throughout the rest of the day, we both returned home without any way to contact each other. On August 18, 2019, freshman move-in day on the Beaufort, SC campus, Darian and her mom (Renita), dad (Paul), and brother (Landon), were met at the bottom of the dorm building stairs by Hayden and his dad (Dennis). A familiar "hey" escaped Darian's mouth as she recognized Hayden. It was in this moment Darian realized she and Hayden would be living in the same dorm building, and later discovered her room was directly over Hayden's. Over the next couple of days Hayden and Darian's roommates all began to spend time together, in which Hayden and Darian's connection continued to grow. On August 28, 2019, less than two weeks into freshman year of college, despite Darian's father's words to "stay away from the boys and just have fun" before going to college, Hayden and Darian began dating and have been growing their relationship ever since.

The night before Hayden proposed he sent a text from work saying he wanted to take Darian out to dinner for a date. Darian didn't think anything of it, as this wasn't out of the ordinary. The next day, Hayden woke up around noon, much earlier than normal after working night-shift at the hospital. Still, Darian had no idea what was to come that evening. As they drove to dinner, Hayden expressed how he wanted to watch the sunset at the Beaufort waterfront, just like they used to. With some hesitation from Darian as she expressed she was hungry and cold, Hayden did not waver from his plan. After getting back in the car, Hayden caving to Darian's cold shivers, Hayden insisted on getting a picture together in front of the sunset. After taking a selfie, Hayden began walking toward a family, asking them for our picture. After standing next to Darian for a picture, it was in this moment he got down on one knee and proposed as the "stranger," who was actually there to capture our special moment, traded Hayden's phone for her camera. It was a moment neither of us will ever forget. The start of our forever together!