TRILLIE: THE ASCENT

Hallie's side: Trine and I met in kind of a roundabout way - I was best friends with her sister Sara for almost a full year before even meeting her. Sara and I became friends just before the pandemic, so I didn't meet any of the friend group until much, much later. During the summer of 2020, we all went to a Black Lives Matter protest where we met in person for the first time, and I think the only thing we really said to one another is "do you need water/food" and "how about those MCR boys..." As emos do. As restrictions lightened and everyone got vaccinated, we were able to hang out much more often. Trine and I noticed that we had. SO. MUCH. IN. COMMON. We often said that we were essentially the same person, from the very beginning. Our friendship quickly blossomed as time went on, and I realized very early on that Trine was someone I wanted in my life for the long haul. I'd repeatedly told myself that I wasn't open to relationships, that I didn't have time, that I didn't have the desire for one. But when things started happening for us, I couldn't help but dive in head first.

The first time I saw Hallie was when my sister, Sara, sent me a picture of her from Tinder. I was in the car, and I remember showing Nico and saying, "This is just me. I feel like I'm gonna end up dating her." Of course, life had other plans. COVID made it impossible to hang out in person, so we didn't talk much outside of the DND campaign our friend Nathan started. There, she got to witness me in all of my chaotic glory (and still somehow put up with me). As COVID subsided and we got vaccinated, we finally started hanging out in person more, which led to texting regularly, which led to her dropping MASSIVE hints that she wanted to date me that I somehow didn't pick up on. Someone else must've been using the braincell at the time. Luckily, I eventually caught on and, after a series of texts that made me feel like an awkward high schooler again, we started dating. I told her I wanted to go slow, but two months in we were making wedding spreadsheets and four months in she proposed. People have commented on how "fast" that seems, but, honestly? It just feels like everything else with her: just right.