When I was 19, I was a stocker at pet store. In my fourth month there, a new cashier starts (spoiler alert: it's my SO). Anyway, so we hang out at the store and we get along swimmingly. We have the same sense of humor, she's easy to talk to (This is back when I was painfully shy. I've now evolved into an extroverted introvert), and we were always cracking jokes together. I'm in a relationship already and honestly, the chemistry between us goes over my head.
One time, we're stocking some shelves and fake arguing (As we're wont to do) and I lay on the "Your parents don't love you and you're adopted" quip. Without skipping a beat, she stares me down and says "Dude, I am adopted." Catches me so off guard that I have to just walk away while she's cracking up laughing at me. (protip: She actually is)
Anyway, fast forward a few years. I'm about a year out of the relationship I was in at the start of this story. I randomly text her one day, out of the blue and BAM! Next thing I know, we're texting everyday, all the time. Seriously, since that day, we have texted each other as much as possible in a day. Every. Single. Day. We haven't missed one.
So we start hanging out. Slowly at first. One day a week. Then two. Then she's hanging with me and my friends at the local bar every time we go. Pretty soon, we're together more than we're not. Everyone keeps asking if we're dating but we're all "nah, it's not like that."
Then I graduate college (about 6 months after I randomly texted her) and I ask her to go steady with me. She says yes. Oh man, I was so happy.
Fast forward again (5 years this time). She's a HUGE Harry Potter fan. So I call up one of her best friends who, conveniently was living in Florida at the time. I start scheming with her, plotting the perfect moment.
A few months later, I take her down there to "visit her friend." We all hang out for a solid week getting drunk and having fun. Then we take her to Harry Potter world at Universal. The Diagon Alley part had literally JUST opened the day before. We spend the whole day there. We hop on the Hogwarts Express ride to go the other section.
I kissed her on the cheek and asked her if she'd marry me (a question I asked all the time, so she was used to it) and she smiled and nodded.
"No, no. I mean will you ACTUALLY marry me."
Queue the box. Ring. Sparkle sparkle. Her eyes go SO wide. She is totally frozen. Confused. I grin.
"N-no?" she says meekly. I crack up.
"Did you mean yes?" She nods and her eyes are still huge.
I laugh and put the ring on her finger. We kiss. 30 min later, we're wandering around looking for food, find a place and sit down to eat. She looks up from her hand, looks around and goes "Where are we?" Me and her friend start cracking up.
It's been a little over 6 months from then. We're getting married in October and I cannot wait. I'm marrying my best friend and I couldn't be happier. This girl just gets me. She accepts me for me, has the same dark sense of humor, is goofy as hell.
I'm honestly lucky to have her. She's put up with a lot of my crap when she didn't have to. Like when I was unemployed after getting fired from my job. I was having panic attacks constantly as my funds dried up and no one was calling (this was back during the recession). She convinced me to go get my A+, Net+, and Security+ certs. I ended up getting headhunted by a school into an inaugural Cyber Security program. 6 months later, I graduated that and landed my first job in the industry.
One year later and here we are. Stronger than ever. I literally don't know where I'd be or what I'd be doing without her but I can tell you this: Without her, I never would have found my passion in life and I never would have learned what true love was. She's my rock.