He was one of those life-changing decisions one deliberates forever about, even when one believes they have already made up their mind. When he asked for a date, I had initially refused as I saw no possibility of a serious relationship. We had nothing in common and I was certain my friends had set us up as he had not been personally invited to the event. If he had not dominated the conversation all night, I would have asked him how he came to know about it. The contrast between us in appearance alone was so stark that simply sitting side-by-side seemed to draw everyone’s attention. But from how they talked about him later, I would learn that it was his intriguing presence which had captivated the other guests upon his arrival instead. His passionate voice and his youthful pride were charming.

In the beginning, we would talk often, but never about ourselves. He would arrive early to the summer seminars, only to invite me to sit beside him and try to converse the entire time. His general candor galvanized his intriguing ideas. Still, I rejected his idea that we begin a relationship, to which he rebounded and suggested we get to know each other as friends. It wasn’t until he began answering questions I had about the material that I realized he wasn’t the type of person who I had originally thought. My friends joked about how it might be safe to return his phone calls after all: he had a receiver to go with his speaker! They convinced me to give him a chance.

We would tell the story of our first time spent together differently. Although he considered it our first date, I reassured everyone that there was no romance or passion, as I had to my parents when I returned home afterward. We had chose to visit the Natural Science Museum early so we could comfortably share headphones. Discovering that it had begun to rain as we left the museum, he offered me protection from the rain. As he gently laid his jacket upon my shoulders I knew it would be a summer I’d always remember. I’ll never forget the feeling of being warmly embraced as he gently flicked the hood over my head.

The summer shower that evening left him with a fever, but this wouldn’t bother us in the days to come. Although we would continue to spend time together outside of classes, he would still arrive early to the seminars, reserving me the empty seat by his side. He never asked about my friends but my friends never stopped asking about him. Though my friends were always interested to hear about what we did together, they became averse to us spending time together. In the beginning, they feigned concern over him taking me away from my studies, but they could no longer deny their feelings of envy when they began inviting him to events without me. The time came when I was finally forced to decide between them when I was the only one who maintained an outstanding GPA after midterms. For fear of having them realize this, I cancelled my plans and accepted his invitation to celebrate. He arrived with flowers and left with a kiss. It was our first date.

Taking my friends’ emotions into account, I kept our relationship a secret. This would prove to be more difficult than I had expected, as he loved introducing me to everyone he knew. Time flew by and we made plans to celebrate the Fourth of July with his family. Although he never talked much about his family, he reassured me not to worry as he talked fondly about me with them. I was surprised. He was so independent and proud that I hadn’t expected him to hold a strong relationship with his parents. Although he was happy to introduce us, his face became flushed when his father revealed he had told them we had been dating from the very beginning…and that I was his first girlfriend.

Whether it was how keenly he talked about me or whether it was something he fondly said, his mother insisted that we maintain correspondence. As he was not one to talk much about himself, his mother’s notes provided insight into what I had never realized.

An only child, he spent his time freely adventuring without fear under his parents’ watchful protection. This had given him the passion and pride everyone had noticed when we had first met, as the courage and optimism of his youth had carried on into his adulthood.

Being each other’s first relationship, our love remained innocent and young, even beyond that summer. While my friends and I bid each other farewell forever, we would always remain by each other's side as the future held much in store for us. He was one of those life-changing decisions one deliberates forever about, even when one believes they have already made up their mind. No one knew what to expect after the wedding. There was so much more to come, so many decisions to be made that were not as simple as the first “Yes.”

Yet... I knew I could trust him.