Hunter was a sophomore creative writing major, and Elliot was a senior Spanish major trolling around for non-major credits. They were in an advanced fiction writing class together that met every Wednesday night for four hours, and Elliot fell in love with Hunter's writing. But, though they had a few laughs over the course of the class, when the school year ended, the two of them were very much not together. Hunter went back to Hood River, and Elliot went back to Ilwaco.

Oh, the beauty that is Facebook Messenger. It lets you text someone whose number you don't have. A few weeks went by after the school year ended, and as Hunter was packing a suitcase to go to a writing conference in Houston, she sent Elliot a Calvin and Hobbes comic. A totally non-romantic gesture, she swears. ("I just thought he would think it was funny!") That comic started the first real conversation they'd ever had with each other. That first conversation lasted two weeks. Back and forth the little blue bubbles flew, across the internet. Finally, Elliot drove down to Hood River, where they went on their first date. (6th St, where they were both so nervous that they barely ate anything) The next weekend, Hunter drove the three hours up to the Washington coast, and it was on that day, June 24th, 2016, that they decided they were a couple. So there you go. Hunter and Elliot would never have gotten together without Calvin and Hobbes and Facebook messenger.

Elliot bought Hunter's ring on their 3 year anniversary while she was at work, with plans to propose on the 4th of July camping trip they were going on with Hunter's family. Unfortunately, they ring got stuck in quality control and was delayed until the day they were supposed to leave. Hunter, obviously not suspecting a thing, suggested they leave to drive down to Coos Bay a whole day earlier than planned, and Elliot, not able to come up with a reason why they shouldn't, had to scrap that plan. The day he proposed was typical Oregon. Overcast and hazy, with the threat of rain all day. They spent most of the day eating junk food and watching the West Wing with their new puppy. Suddenly, at three in the afternoon, Elliot had to "go to the bank" alone. When he came back, he brought Hunter a bouquet of roses and asked if she'd like to go out to a nice dinner that night. They got all dressed up, and headed out to downtown Lake Oswego. Hunter had a weird feeling that Elliot was going to propose, but she'd felt that before, and obviously nothing had come of it. While they were eating dinner, it started to rain, and it was still misting as they left the restaurant. Elliot asked Hunter if she wanted to walk to the lake. Then she knew something was up. They walked to the overlook, where Elliot started into a very sweet speech about their relationship. They hugged, and Hunter felt the ring in Elliot's jacket pocket. He got down on one knee, and Hunter's response was "OH MY GOD I KNEW IT!" A jogger clapped as he ran past. "So this was your plan B?" Hunter said as they drove back home, after he told her about his scheduling troubles. Elliot smiled. "Nope," he said, "My plan was to get the ring and propose as soon as possible. That's what I did." Fun fact: Elliot hid the ring in Hunter's car, right next to her spare tire. He was pretty positive she would never find it there.