Andrew and Allison met at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2017. It was the first days of the new fall semester, and Allison, who had been struggling a lot in college, was making an effort to start the semester on the right foot. Her first class was in a large lecture hall and she went down to the front to sit in the first row, but it was already occupied, so she sat in the second row–perfectly positioned to notice Andrew in the first row. Andrew immediately stood out to Allison because he had some tattoos that she recognized, Legend of Zelda stickers on his laptop, and of course, he was pretty hot. But Allison was determined to focus on her studies, and once that class ended, Allison headed off to get lunch and prepare for her second class of the day. The syllabus said that this class was going to be group based, so Allison was already stressed about getting a good group together. But lo and behold, when she got to class, she saw that Andrew was also in this class. Allison was a little worried about coming across as creepy or awkward, but more worried about not having a good group, so she approached Andrew and asked him if he wanted to work together. Andrew of course said yes, and they exchanged numbers. Over that semester, Allison and Andrew became fast friends. They had a lot in common: they both lived in Baltimore, were a little bit older than the rest of their classmates, enjoyed board games and video games, and had similar but different taste in music and movies. Over the next few years, they supported each other in school, but also through break ups, moves, and all other manner of life events. Biggest of all, Andrew was the person that helped and supported Allison the most during her transition. It became clear to both of them that they had feelings for each other, but it seemed like they could never get the timing right–one of them was always in a relationship when the other wasn’t. And then COVID happened, and they drifted apart, resigned that it just wasn’t meant to be. But then they reconnected in early 2021. They were both single and danced back-and-forth a bit, and then Andrew asked Allison to move in with him as a roommate. Fortunately, they skipped the whole “they were roommates” thing and just decided to dive headfirst into a relationship. Since then, life has had its ups and downs, but they’ve always supported each other and helped each other grow through some of their toughest challenges. They have an amazing fur family that has grown to two cats and two dogs, and can’t wait to start this new chapter of their lives together.