When Lauren texted two of her best friends, Laurel and Maria, in August 2017 and told them she'd met a guy and that it was "probably nothing," they both knew it was definitely something. Keegan had moved from Fort Collins, Colorado, to Columbia, Missouri, to earn his master's degree in journalism, and Lauren—born and raised in Columbia—was hanging around the city to do the same. Their first official meeting was at an orientation for that semester's staff of Vox Magazine, though neither of them remember any "love at first sight." It wasn't until Keegan walked into his Magazine Editing class and saw his teaching assistant, who just so happened to be Lauren, that he took a second look. After class, he sat in the Vox office with her and asked, "So, is Mag Editing really as hard as everyone says?" She assured him he'd do great. (And he did.) A few days later, during a particularly long night at the office, he sent her a message over Instagram and asked if they could hang out sometime. Over the next several weeks, they realized how deeply they enjoyed each other's company. They shared way too many trips to get Andy's ice cream; she sang him ballads and he taught her country songs; they bonded over work, writing, sports, faith and politics; they carpooled to work every morning; and, in general, they never really wanted to be apart. Keegan met Lauren's family before they even started dating, attending a football game with the Puckett crew in September. By the time the semester was over, they were official and rarely was one seen without the other. That summer, Lauren went back to Colorado with Keegan to meet his family, and in the split-second she saw everyone playing outside by the barbecue, she knew this was it—the beginning of something real and good.

Keegan and Lauren moved to New York City together in August 2019 after graduating with their master's degrees earlier that year. After several months living and working in the city, COVID-19 sent them temporarily home to Columbia, which derailed Keegan's initial proposal plans. So when they moved back to NYC in August 2020, he took Lauren out for an anniversary dinner at one of their favorite local restaurants in Ridgewood, Queens. They shared a romantic dinner of burgers and frozen margaritas before Keegan asked Lauren if she wanted to spend a few more minutes alone on their apartment's rooftop, which has a full view of the Manhattan skyline (and the neighbor's pigeon coop, but we'll ignore that part). They talked for a while about their life together, about everything they could see in the distance. Then Lauren turned toward the city, and Keegan pretended to take a photo of her silhouette while he searched his pocket for the ring. He settled down onto one knee, then told her to turn around. She was so overwhelmed she almost forgot to wait until he popped the question before exclaiming, "Hi! Hello! Wow!" And, of course, she said yes.