A Lifetime of Friendship and Love. - A Wedding Celebration.

While Scott and I "technically" met in 5th grade as part of a weekly class for the kids deemed "highly capable," we really didn't speak to each other until the following year, when we both entered Meeker Middle School. We had been seated next to each other in class, when I noticed he was doodling in his notebook during the lesson. I instantly recognized them as enemies from the Super Mario Bros series, and complimented his art. That led to a class-long discussion about drawing and video games between us and immediately cemented our friendship. Through him, I met many of the other people that to this day are our best and most treasured friends. Growing up, Scott and I were close, but our equal levels of stubbornness could be a problem. We would get into arguments that would leave me frustrated about how selfish and immature he came across. This progressed into high school, when the ideas of relationships and dating became ever more prevalent. Being in a friend group of mostly guys, this led to some awkward feelings and internal debate. However, one thing was clear and cemented to me at the time, as I told to many of my female friends and my own mother: "I will NEVER EVER date Scott. He's just too selfish and immature." Whether or not I was aware of the crush he had on me I cannot recall, but I was firm in my belief that he and I should just stay friends. Years passed, and my friends and I all graduated high school and moved onto the next step of our lives. The next several years were lonely ones, as our changing paths meant I didn't see them often. In the fall of 2015, however, Scott would come back from college and invite me to his house to play video games and reconnect. Maybe it was the time apart, or getting older, but he seemed both familiar and different, in a good way. What started as one fun little hangout became another, and then another. Friends would sometimes come join and I would find myself weirdly upset by it. When he would move close to me, I would get nervous. At one point during these video game hangouts, the subject of relationships got brought up. When he asked me what type of guy I was looking for, I began describing qualities and traits; somebody who wasn't too much taller than me, had a good sense of humor, who was kind and smart. He said I had described a character in a video game we had been playing, which made him laugh. I didn't laugh, because I had realized that I had also just described him. This was the moment of panic. The realization of why I had been feeling so weird around him. "Never Ever" now had a "....well, maybe" attached to it. For the next several months, I was tormented with the decision of how to approach this. Crushes weren't new to me, even crushes on friends. I had been burned before by this, so I was incredibly cautious. This changed when Scott got into a car accident one evening, and although he couldn't explain it, his first instinct was to call me. I talked to him until he could get home and drew him a picture to make him feel better. From there, it became long nightly text conversations and movie nights that seemed a lot like dates. After a week of this he asked me, "So....are we dating...?" It was as unceremonious and blunt as it could be - but it was distinctly him. Over ten years of friendship and nearly 3 months of obvious-to-anyone-else courtship, "Never Ever" was gone. And now, ten years after that, "Forever After" is here. I love you, Scott, with all of my heart. -Royale