David and Kayla met in August of 2022 at a Christian gap year program called Impact 360. Both were eager for the spiritual growth that lay ahead, but neither expected to find romantic interests, let alone future spouses. Early in the first semester, David and Kayla developed a deep friendship, but nothing more. In fact, Kayla once told David that he was like a "best friend, brother, and dad" to her. She saw in him the closeness of a best friend, the comfort of a brother, and the wisdom of a father. David saw that he was friend-zoned. In January 2023, though it seemed like the coffin had been nailed shut for a possible relationship between the two, David started developing feelings for Kayla. After a long day of serving in Brazil through Impact 360, Kayla and David caught up and eventually started talking about crushes. It was there that things began to change. Kayla explained that she didn’t mean to friendzone David, but that she saw many attributes in him that were found in best friends, brothers, and fathers. It was then that David not only saw more clarity in the situation, but he also saw that he had a chance. It was later discovered by both that by February 2023, both had each written in their journals that they could see themselves marrying someone like the other. As time passed, both David and Kayla realized that deeper feelings were starting to develop. However, there were two main hurdles. Impact 360 had a no-dating rule for the remainder of the school year, and Kayla wanted to commit to a year of singleness that would end in September 2023. Because of this, no clarifying conversation or “DTR (Define the relationship)” talk could be held. Over the remainder of the school year, David was met with many doubts as to whether he truly had a chance with Kayla, while Kayla was still discerning her feelings for David. A week before the end of the program, David and Kayla were finally able to talk to clarify their relationship. Both opened up about having mutual feelings for each other, but they agreed to wait until September to start dating. David went to college in Dallas, Texas, while Kayla went off to college in Charleston, South Carolina. In September, David flew out to Kayla after her year of singleness ended. After the first full day of dating, David asked Kayla to be his girlfriend on the beach of Sullivan’s Island. A year later, he would ask her at that same exact beach to be his wife, and the rest is history.