​Blake and Kylie met in 2013, during their junior year of high school (shoutout Carl Sandburg, Go Eagles!). Kylie was immediately smitten with Blake and his Justin Bieber hair and black studded earrings. I mean, what wasn't there to like? Kylie developed a little crush on Blake that lasted throughout the rest of their time in high school. Little did she realize this would be the start of an on-again, off-again friendship that would last almost a decade but would finally lead to their engagement! As Blake and Kylie started college, sadly, they grew apart. However, as junior year began in the fall of 2017, Blake transferred to Illinois State University where Kylie had already been attending. As one of the few people Blake knew at ISU, he reached out to his former friend Kylie to help him through his new transition. Blake, of course, ended up moving into an apartment on Vernon Ave, just a few doors down from Kylie, and their friendship sparked again. Can you guess what happened next? Yup, you got it! They lost touch AGAIN. Now let's skip ahead to March 2020. A global pandemic fell upon all of us, and while it seemed like the world was ending, Kylie decided to move to Chicago in July of that year. Shortly after, who would have guessed, Blake followed suit and joined the migration to the city with his friends in September. Slowly but surely, Blake and Kylie rekindled their friendship yet again, but this time it was Blake's turn to have a little crush on Kylie. After almost two years of hangouts, late nights, and "subtle" flirting, in September of 2022, Blake finally asked Kylie to be his girlfriend! Fast-forward to a cold November evening in 2024, outside of the Lincoln Park Zoo, Blake got down on one knee and asked his now best friend, Kylie Ann Pierson, to marry him. Although many chapters in their book have already been written, we cannot wait to see what comes next and how this love story will end.