My boyfriend and I have been dating for over a year now, and it has been an amazing year filled with jokes, laughs and adventures. From messing around in Walmart, to long conversations until 2 in the morning, we know each other almost better than we know ourselves. I can tell you his favorite color, dessert, TV show, movie, thing to do, etc. But most girls say that about someone they quote "really, really like" right?

Well what my boyfriend and I have is more than that and it has been since we met. We met at JSU's accepted students day because we had the same major. We immediately knew the other was someone we wanted to talk to. I was drawn to him, he seemed so confident and he was definitely funny. The two of us and two others made a small little group because we all had similar interests, and at the end of the day we all exchanged numbers, then went our separate ways. I talked to all of them for a little while but eventually we all slowly got busy with our own lives. We all lived in different places so its not shocking that we all lost contact.

I went back to school and focused on surviving the rest of senior year and getting out of my hometown. I had a countdown on my phone until the day I was set to move into my dorm. I couldn't wait to start this new chapter in my life.

Then a little bit before my graduation out of the blue I got a text from the guy I had met a couple months before. After that we talked more and more frequently especially once summer started. We bonded over our love of music and reading. He told jokes and used cheesy pick up lines that were so awful you couldn't help but laugh. He slowly became my best friend. He learned my secrets and my past and he didn't care he accepted me for who I was.

He has taught me so many things and he's opened my mind to new things. He has done nothing but encourage me to be myself, he's helped me grow into the person I am today. He was there for me when I moved into my dorm and everything was new, he was there to help calm me down when I was freaking out about my first day of classes, he took me out for my 19th birthday and got me a piece of my favorite kind of cake, he was there when I had to say good bye to the first dog I'd ever had, he has been there whenever I needed him. I have been there for him when he has needed me, we are bonded through our shared moments and experiences, when something great happens he's the first person I want to tell, and when something bad happens he's the first person I want to hug me.

He's my boyfriend and my cuddle buddy and my other half but before he became those things he was my best friend.