Cupid (wink, wink) brought Alex and Jake together at a now-shuttered Chinatown dim sum restaurant on October 11, 2019. It was the day before Alex’s birthday. After the meal, they shared their first kiss in Washington Square Park, where Jake shielded Alex from the icy spray of the fountain while simultaneously ribbing her for not wearing a weather-appropriate outfit, despite his reminders. It was love at first soup dumpling.

Jake arrived at their second date with a birthday present for Alex. To no one’s surprise, it was a fantasy novel. Alex was charmed, albeit confused. By the time she got around to reading the book (The Library of Mount Char), it was pretty clear that the two of them were going to be in it for the long haul. From navigating haunted houses to sampling every taco joint Bushwick had to offer, their first few months together were a blur.

Then, COVID hit. Across boroughs, empty roads, and vacant bridges, they still managed to see one another. The prospect of spending their pandemic isolation apart was simply unthinkable. When Alex graduated from her master’s program, she decided to move to Brooklyn. Naturally, the apartment she and her roommate settled on was on Starr Street, directly across the street from Jake’s. Both of their bedroom windows faced the street, and on late nights, Alex could see Jake hunched over at his desk through the window. Sometimes she’d text him to stop slouching, just to freak him out.

A year as Starr-crossed lovers affirmed that they were ready to see even more of one another. On June 26, 2021, Alex and Jake moved into their home on Bleecker Street in Bushwick. By August that same summer, they’d adopted their fur children, Ozzy and Ophelia, from an eccentric cat lady in Astoria.

Jake asked Alex to marry him at the top of a mountain (read: steep hill) in upstate New York (read: north of NYC) on March 20, 2022. He’d had the ring since January. Ozzy and Ophelia were thrilled when they heard the news.