It was Mark's first week living on his own, when naturally after a few days, he realized food wasn’t going to just cook itself. With the help of the man in the yellow mask, Mark found a handsome young man while visiting his coworker, Alana, in Burlington. He asked Alana what she thought of his profile, and she said, "Oh he's cute; go for it!" Mark started the conversation as eloquently as possible: "Hey man, how's it going?" Since it was the pandemic, both had nothing going on, and decided to meet up in Winthrop that evening. Upon arrival, they spoke for five hours, and then Mark asked EJ if he saw the water episode of Zac Efron's Down to Earth. By the end of the night, they watched the entire Netflix series while consuming hummus and chips. EJ knew Oliver, his cat, gave his stamp of approval because he never left Mark's side, and anyone who knows Ollie knows it is a privilege for them to see him if he so chooses for that to happen.

The afternoon was spent taking a trip to downtown Boston where they stumbled upon Octoberfest at Harpoon Brewery. The bouncer hooked them up: giving them the best people-watching high top table next to the events. After critically observing the beer drinking contest, helping to point out who was cheating, who surprised them, and basically providing their unprompted two cents, they decided to go for a walk along the seaport. Once they got to a bridge overlooking Boston Harbor with Logan Airport in the distance, EJ very nervously asked Mark if they officially wanted to be boyfriends. Mark, of course, said yes, and then asked EJ the rest of the way back to Winthrop why he was so nervous, since the answer seemed so obvious to Mark. Luckily for EJ, the car ride was short so he didn't have time to regret what he had just asked.

Following the events of their first COVID close contact, Mark had EJ separate himself from an "isolated" roommate by spending two weeks with Mark in Watertown. Every other day, they would stop by EJ's apartment to quickly feed and pet Henry, and Oliver. Each time they went, the "isolated" roommate was nowhere to be found. Mark turned to EJ, and said EJ could go back to Winthrop after the two weeks, but he would be hesitant to go back to the Winthrop apartment to spend time with EJ since he was still working in the stores where no one had tested positive in his office yet. Both decided to use that excuse to initiate the obvious sequence of events, and have EJ and the cats move in full-time with Mark. While it was far sooner than both expected for this to happen, Mark was not turning down the opportunity to have a chef, and house sitter, 24/7 while he worked. During the middle of the night, they moved the cats in. Henry was pretty much fine after being a total backseat driver the entire ride, and Ollie hid behind the toilet paper for two weeks. This was also when it was discovered that Ollie had some major beef with Tanisha, Mark's best friend and neighbor at the time, in a past life because he would run as fast as possible, and occasionally hiss at her when she came downstairs to visit.

It was Memorial Day weekend, and EJ, and Mark thought they were way ahead of schedule with having everything ready to go for the movers. Much to their dismay, the movers showed up four hours late, and didn't get their stuff to Dorchester until 8pm. EJ's mom, Kate, was there throughout the whole day to try to keep their spirits up, even though it rained the entire time during the move. While extremely stressful, especially with the movers scratching their bedroom furniture, it was the first major test to see how they could handle an undesirable situation. Like Kate, they handled the stress by immediately going to bed, and saved unpacking for the next day.

Leading up to this day, EJ had dropped several hints about a proposal coming soon. The first (and biggest) hint came when the jeweler called to check in with EJ while his phone was connected to their SUV while on a drive with Mark. While EJ eventually returned the call, Mark sent a text to Tanisha wondering, "why does EJ have a jeweler saved in his phone?" She said, "don't worry about it, and stop asking questions!" The day before the proposal, Mark had to work because EJ utilized his Wegmans connections to make sure Mark's boss switched Saturdays with him. This allowed EJ to get everything set for the big day. That morning, EJ, and Mark met up with Austin, EJ's friend since high school, to take anniversary photos. Mark had it in his head that this was when the big moment would come since EJ suggested he dress nicely. Once the pictures were done, and they watched Austin drive off, EJ suggested they drive to Winthrop to go to where their story all started. During the ride, EJ asked Mark what was wrong to which he replied nothing (as he tried to figure out why EJ wasted a photo opportunity for the expected proposal - a requirement Mark had asked for in a proposal). EJ took Mark on a walk to the beach across from his old apartment with the Boston skyline in the background. There he told Mark that he had written letters to Mark's mom, Linda, and cousin Allie asking for their blessing (another proposal requirement of Mark's), but had one more note he had written. That letter was written to Mark's father, Joe, that he gave to Mark to read. In it, EJ discussed how grateful he was to Joe and Linda, for having Mark, and how he wishes he had the opportunity to have met him. He promised Joe that he would be a good husband to Mark, and a good father to Joe's future grandkids. He ended the letter by thanking Joe for being witness to when he proposed to Mark. After the longest four and a half minutes of EJ's life, when Mark finally finished reading the letter through tears, EJ got on one knee, and asked Mark to marry him. Once they embraced, Austin popped out from her hiding space to assure Mark she captured the moment (fulfilling the final requirement of making it a surprise). After a few quick phone calls, they returned home to an apartment full of close family, and friends, yet again surprising Mark, who had the gasp heard 'round the world. Mark then asked EJ if they could cancel their dinner reservations so they could celebrate with everyone to which EJ agreed, since the dinner reservation was simply a decoy to hide the surprise party. EJ knew Mark had suspicions about the proposal coming, but was thrilled he was able to pull off the surprise party without a hint of speculation from Mark.