Throughout college, Gabriella (Ella) had one goal and one rule. The goal - get back to India. The rule - no more than 3 dates with anyone so nothing would come between her and the goal. Summer 2013 wasn't supposed to change that. Assigned to work with one another, both Mikey and Ella were a bit apprehensive about how their summer would go. After a few weeks, tentative co-workers turned into partners-in-crime. They spent the summer conspiring on how to get campers phones, lit the girl's staff cabin on fire by throwing fireworks inside, and pranked countless people. Towards the end of summer camp, Ella announced she would be leaving camp early to go see family in Norway. Mikey's heart sank and Mikey realized his feelings went deeper than friendship. When school began again, Ella was at Southern and Mikey in Washington but Mikey found a way to text Ella - a little at first and then more and more. A month into the school year, Mikey asked if he could call and hear "all about Norway." Phone calls became more and more frequent. Friends began to ask Ella what was going on to which she replied, "We are really, really good friends." In November, Mikey decided enough was enough. He was going to confess his feelings. After three attempts, he finally gained the courage (with help from his friend Drew) to tell Ella how he really felt. With the promise of pizza from Drew if Ella didn't feel the same way, Mikey called. When Ella answered, he said, "I like being friends but I really want to be more than friends." After his heartfelt confession, Ella explained she really enjoyed their friendship but that was all. That night, Mikey got pizza. Over the long weekend, Ella thought a lot, realizing her feelings also went much deeper. Mikey and Ella decided to continue getting to know each other, knowing that her departure for India was looming. In September of 2014, Mikey asked Ella, "Are you going back to India?" With her, "yes," they chose to end their communication after nearly a year of pursuing each other. After graduating in 2014, Ella flew to India and began to fulfill her dream of seeing her kids through high school. She often thought of Mikey, remembering that he never stood in the way of her return to her kids and wondered if he had asked her to stay, whether she would have had the strength to leave him. Nearly two years after they stopped talking, Mikey friended Ella on Facebook. Every few months, they'd catch up with each other. When Ella began visiting the U.S., she saw Mikey nearly every time with updates like, "now, I'm moving to Norway," or "I have been offered a position in Thailand." Covid hit while Ella was making her move to Thailand. Isolated from family and friends, Ella began to evaluate her nomadic life. Simultaneously, Mikey snapchatted her that he was going to the hospital with Covid. Ella didn't hear from him for several days. The days she spent worrying made her realize that feelings she had thought long gone were stronger than she had thought. Her relief when she heard he was okay confirmed what she thought. In summer 2021, Ella moved back to the U.S. Muthu, one of Ella's kids said, "If you move back to the U.S., you and that guy will be like magnets. When you get closer, you get stuck together." In January of 2023, the magnet theory was proven correct when Mikey began to text more, then asked to call, and finally asked, "Have you ever thought of us trying again?" They planned a trip to Chicago and by the end of that weekend, knew that the feelings from 2013 still hit in 2023. Six months later, Ella moved north, taking a job near Mikey. As their relationship deepened, she told him they, "couldn't level their relationship up until he visited India." It didn't take long for Mikey to begin planning a Christmas trip. On Christmas Eve 2023, over 10 years after they first realized they had something special, Mikey asked Ella to spend the rest of her life with him and she said, "Yes!"