the start of forever

Our first date felt like a scene from a movie. We sat across from each other with the card game "We're Not Really Strangers" spread out between us like a script we never planned to follow. I (Will) drew a card: “What was one thing that surprised you when we first met?” The irony wasn’t lost on us—we had only known each other for an hour. But you (Mackenzie) didn’t hesitate. You looked me in the eyes and said, “How safe I feel with you.” And just like that, the world softened. The noise faded. We felt it—a pull, a knowing. Like maybe our hearts had been waiting for that moment all along. Time became irrelevant. We talked for hours, trading truths instead of small talk, weaving a connection through vulnerability and laughter. I (Will) saw your heart, raw and radiant, and you (Mackenzie) saw mine—quiet, gentle, open. It didn’t feel like the beginning of something. It felt like coming home. That night, our love story began—not with fireworks, but with something even more powerful: recognition.