Trevor and I started out as “just friends” and for us, that was actually true. We met our freshman year of high school and stayed in touch throughout college, me at Whitewater and him at Carroll, visiting each other here and there. After graduation, Trevor jumped into his first “big boy” job in logistics while I… started what was supposed to be a super senior semester that somehow turned into a full year at Whitewater, where I was fully living the lifestyle of a frat boy. Trevor was first relocated to Houston, and even with the distance we still checked in every once in a while. Then he moved again to Davenport, Iowa, which was only about a three-hour drive away, and that’s when things really picked back up. We were still “just friends,” but suddenly we were seeing each other all the time, whether he was back home in Silver Lake or I was making the drive to Iowa. After about a year in Iowa, Trevor was ready for a change and ended up getting an opportunity back home through his old boss at Best Bargains. Around the same time, I had just graduated, started my first job in marketing and graphic design, and was ready to move out. So naturally, we thought… why not get an apartment together? As friends. Obviously. Looking back, Trevor definitely knew before I did. I, on the other hand, was dodging his gestures left and right. We had just signed a lease, and all I could think was what if this doesn’t work out? Then what? That lasted about two months before I called an emergency meeting with my friends to confess how I was feeling. Not long after, following a night out at the good ole Brat Stop and a little liquid courage (lemon drops of course), I finally told Trevor how I felt. And just like that, everything changed. Two years later, we bought a house together. A year after that, we picked out a ring (and I patiently waited over a year for him to propose). Who would have thought that the guy I met freshman year of high school would end up being the one 🤍