I've always believed in love and hoped that one day it would find me and sweep me off my feet. No matter what I have been through with my family or in my own relationships I held tight to the fact that love could prevail and was something magical. When I met my soulmate I was 16 and we were both dating other people. He never even crossed my mind in that way at first as I was wrapped up in experiencing all my firsts with someone else.

We would all hang out sometimes and he seemed like a nice guy stuck in a bad relationship. One day when my boyfriend and best friend went running we walked around just talking and he seemed really sweet. After a few months we both ended up breaking things off with our current relationships for different reasons. Somehow we ended up being there for each other and hanging out in band class often. One night when I was taking my brother and his girlfriend to a movie I decided to invite him just for some company of my own. I never imagined it turning into a date or something that would change my life. We were all watching 'Land of the Lost' and suddenly he reached out and held my hand. It was like a shockwave went through my body and I was filled with a wave of peace. He surprised me, but it made me feel at home. When I dropped him off at home he kissed me goodnight and I left feeling very nervous, excited, and confused.

We started dating and quickly fell in love. We were young and very passionate. I could never get enough of him and he basically lived at my house for the rest of high school. He even took care of me the whole first summer we dated while I had whooping cough and in return I drove him around until he could start driving and get a job. Many years later someone told me we were the power couple of band. Something I'll never believe, but it was cute to hear. He was the "bad" boy in a hardcore band and I was just the nerdy girl who could never quite decide where she fit in. We dated on and off all the way until my second year of college. It was always hard to tell our friends and family when we were getting back together (even though we only broke up three times) and that became the deciding factor in why we ended things.

We were young and immature and we had a hard time standing up for each other to our friends and family when we had to explain why we were dating again. I think we both hurt each other a lot. I was jealous and very insecure and he seemed more worried about his band and friends than me most of the time. We just really needed to grow up.

The day I ended things I deleted him off of all my social media and quit him cold turkey, but I never once stopped thinking of him. He was my best friend and the love of my life and in the back of my mind it constantly nagged at me. I moved forward though and tried dating many times. I could never quite seem to fit into anyone's arms the same way though. Nothing lasted and the closest I came to another real relationship was right before moving to Florida, but long distance was never going to work for us. I often thought of my long lost love and every once in awhile I would look at his Instagram, see his current girlfriend, and then immediately exit out because it still somehow hurt me to see that he had been with someone else for so long and I couldn't find anyone after him.

Moving to Florida made me extremely happy and I started to truly find myself, but I still wasn't finding love and wished there was a way to connect with him again. Luckily, he found me. I will never forget sitting in my psychology class in the Spring of 2015 and seeing his name pop up on my phone from a Facebook message. A wave of anxiety washed over me and I thought it must be a mistake. After class I read his message and it said that him and his best friend were looking for places to move after graduation and since Florida was one of them he wanted to know if he could ask me some questions. I hesitantly agreed and told him he could text me anytime. I told him a little about St. Petersburg but I never knew what the appropriate conversation length was or if he was still with his girlfriend and I was afraid to ask.

I finally just invited him and his friend to come down for a week to look at apartments and see what it was like since I would be staying at a house for the summer. I was very naive in doing this as I was convinced that after three and one half years nothing would happen between us. They agreed and at the end of June they arrived. I was really nervous to see him again and when I walked outside and saw him all I could think was "Fuck, I am not over him." The first day was very awkward as I had no idea what to say to them and was arguing with myself about still being in love with him. Him and his buddy shared an air mattress the first night and had a really hard time sleeping and I had to bite my tongue not to say "You can sleep in my bed!" The next day I could tell he was flirting with me and he confirmed that he no longer was with his girlfriend. That night the three of us squeezed into my bed to watch 'Mulan' and I leaned my head on him. When his friend went to go to bed he said something like "I'm just going to stay here" and I was thrilled, but nervous. I knew that if we started something and he left it would shatter me, but I had to take the chance.

After turning off the light he leaned over and kissed me and I felt like I was finally home. I never felt like that with anyone else.The rest of the week was pure bliss, with a little bit of worry mixed in. He kept repeating how we were only hooking up, but I felt that was more to convince himself than how he really felt. I just kept my mouth shut and hoped for the best, but we became closer and closer and it was very hard to say goodbye. Within the next week we decided to take the leap and try for a long distance relationship. He had fallen in love with Florida and knew he wanted to move, it was just a matter of when. His lease wasn't up until the next June so we thought we would have to wait that long to be in the same state but we were still hopeful. Explaining this to our families was an adventure in itself but they were actually very supportive. We had both grown up so much and discussed every little detail so that we did not enter into our relationship too lightly.

I immediately planned a trip back to Michigan for August to both see him and surprise my sister on her birthday and then he planned a trip to Florida for his birthday in September. After that we knew we had a long haul of waiting until my winter break in December and we'd have to figure out seeing each other after that as well. The short weekends we did get together were nothing short of perfect. I savored every second with him. We also made sure to talk everyday and Skype often when we were apart. Over the first few months he found a way to move here faster so I started the search for apartments and planned to move off campus. A friend was going to take over as a sub-leaser at his apartment and we had a set date of moving in late December. This was a dream come true because I had no clue how I would've made it through nine months apart.

I flew home in mid-December and we packed everything up every day for the next week. A moving truck came to get most of it and we jam packed his SUV for our trip down. It was a tough Christmas for him as he said goodbye to his family and friends but we were both so excited to start our journey. We spent two days driving down to Florida and we moved into our cute two bedroom apartment right away. Of course, it took our moving truck two more weeks to bring us our things, but spending our nights on a blow up mattress and eating pizza bagel bites on our floor is something I will always cherish.

Now we have been together for over a year and living together in Florida for the past eight months. It has been so much fun to learn more and more about each other and I have no doubt in my mind that he is the one. I pushed the feeling away for so many years, but he really is my soulmate. I love him more every day, even when he drives me crazy or grosses me out. With all my heart and soul I know I want to spend the rest of my life with him and I truly hope he feels the same about me. I love his family and friends and my family and friends love him. I have found happiness, love, intimacy, and a great best friend in him.

We have two tuxedo cats that have become our children and our favorite thing to do is go to Disney World when we have a day off. Right now we are on a challenge to eat at every restaurant in EPCOT. Speaking of which, it was in 2010 sitting at a table in "Italy" that it hit me like a ton of bricks that I loved him and always wanted to be with him as he read Italian words to me from a small translator book he purchased. A moment I will truly never forget and remind him of often. I look forward to all of our future adventures and hopefully to the day I can take his last name. I will forever be grateful that fate brought us back together. It just proves that if you're patient love is out there.

I love you Scott.