"Are you two dating?" "You two should date" "Aw you guys are so cute together" "How long have you two been together?" We get these questions nearly every time we go out someplace. It gets old, Girls can have guy best friends!

A shy quiet Junior in the back of theater class and a loud, outgoing sophomore in the same theater class. That's how we met. Nathan was my first theater partner in class, and we just hit it off from there. As the year progressed we continued to be partners, and I learned so much about him. I started sitting with him at lunch and saying hi to him in the hallway. He ended up winning a contest where he got to sing on stage in front of people, so I first started out by going to surprise him.

Our friendship continued to grow throughout the year, and we became closer than ever. We chose each other for our final project in theater and as much as I messed up and called "line" a million times he still pushed me to do my best, and I love him for that.

He even came to my sweet 16 and tap danced for me and made my whole night!

We also took my all time favorite photo together.

After his junior year and my sophomore year, we started to hang out outside of school. We went on so many adventures and made so many memories.

We did everything from drive around and almost hit a dog that ran in front of us to pretending to make movies together. We went to Arby's together just to order mozzarella sticks then to Speedway just to get our favorite candy, gummy lifesavers.

We acted like complete dorks together, and I loved every minute I spent with him. Of course, I'll admit I developed a crush at one point, but after talking about it with him, I wouldn't trade our friendship for dating.

After his Senior summer had come to an end, he landed a few significant roles in the high school plays and I, of course, came to support him there as well.

Then he graduated! I was able to make it to his party, so I went with my mom and got a classic picture with him of course!

But of course, every splendid time comes to a short end. We stopped talking for a little bit while I completed my senior year and he was in the middle of his freshmen year at Butler. Then we started to get back in contact during the end of my senior year. We started off by hanging out a little more each weekend. Again, we did everything together. Every single weekend was filled with him. He came over and played Xbox; we went to movies, we drove around, we ate Cinnabon delights from Taco Bell and went to midnight Steak 'n Shake.

We even went to the state fair together and not to mention I beat him in every single game possible! And of course, I won him a stuffed animal.

We continued to "goof off" for the rest of the year until summer. During that time we were wrestling in my front yard and got the cops called on us because they thought he was attacking me, we went to the zoo together and saw all of the animals, and he put voices to them just to get me to laugh, we even went to Walmart just to cause trouble.

During his freshmen year at Butler, he also landed a role in one of his school's productions. I knew he wanted to be famous and I supported him 110% of the way. I went to see him and was so incredibly excited that he was following his dreams.

Summer rolled around, I graduated, had my graduation party, and he made it so much more bearable. We hung out the most that summer. This time we wouldn't drive, we would find a random place and just talk. We talked about life, the future, our jobs, school. We made so many promises, but the promise I remember best of all is:

"No matter what your dream is, you have to follow it"

And ever since he told that to me I've been keeping my promise and so has he.

Keeping promises in any friendship is so important to keep trust, to keep communication, to maintain the friendship in general and I think that's what keeps us so strong.

Now of course with any friendships you have a few fights. We've had our fair share from an argument all the way to giving each other the silent treatment, but we've always made up. We really can't stay mad at each other for more than 5 minutes. Any friendship has its flaws, but it's what helps make you stronger with the other person.

Nathan has really been through the majority of my "finding myself" process, and I thank him for that each and every day and I wouldn't trade him for the world. He is someone that knows how to handle me on my good and bad days, and that's all I wanted in a best friend. He understands when I'm tired, irritated or upset. He knows how to cheer me up of back off when I need space. I do the exact same for him. He's irreplaceable!

After I had left for school at Adrian in Michigan, three hours away from my best friend, we became closer than ever. Because we didn't see each other every day, we called each other and took the time to talk to each other and catch up. We would be on the phone for hours on end then after that; we would text when we got the chance. Sometimes he would call me on his way to class or after class to share any good news he had for the day.

Keeping up with your best friend is so important. We know what's going on and we create talking points and questions to ask each other about our days when we do talk. We for sure never get bored!

I came home with a group of girls from school to go to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and of course, I had to introduce my best friend to everyone! We cooked for the group and obviously caused some trouble in the kitchen!

When I came home for winter break, he was so excited. We did so many things together again! He celebrated my 19th birthday with me and took me out with some friends. He even bought me a gift that he wrapped in a brown paper bag, and it was the effort that mattered, and that meant more to me than the gift inside.

We ended up doing a breakout room with some friends as well and almost beat the clock! As much as we love to spend time with one another, we also take the time to introduce each other to our personal friends to grow our friend group. Sometimes we hang out with a group and sometimes we do our own thing.

After winter break of almost seeing him every day, I went back to school and didn't get to see him. It was hard, and I fell into a depressive state. I stayed away from home for a couple of months straight because of things I had to do on the weekends and also the fact that I didn't want to drive three hours. But that never stopped us from talking almost every day. He helped me through some of my hardest times and gave me the best advice. He always knew how to get me to smile or even laugh so hard that I cry!

After a few months of going without seeing him, Spring break rolled around, and we made a massive plan to go to a super girly cake shop that I was dying to take him to for his birthday. He agreed to go with me, and we did. I made him wear his pink bow tie, and I remember him asking me at least 15 times if he could take it off or if he HAD to wear it. But he ended up wearing it just to make me happy. As our cake date came to an end and the bill came to our table, the waitress asked if we were dating because I begged her to hand me the bill instead of him. We always fight over the bill, and most of the time he wins (he ended up letting me pay) It baffles me that just because a boy and a girl hang out together and look nice people automatically assume you are dating. I remember getting a lot of looks that day but it didnt spoil my mood or anything we had going on. We enjoyed our time together and sometimes he even pretends liek we are dating just to get me to laugh about it. I understand that sometimes it may look like that but girls can have best guy friends too right?

Of course spring break ended and I had to go back home but then I only had a few weeks until I was reunited with him! We talked about so many plans for the summer that he would do with me like going to the girly cake shop again and even going to take some best friend pictures together.

Now that I am back from school we have hung out a few times already but the night that I got back he surprised me with a dave and busters date and we took some freinds with us to make the night complete. We played games until we ran out of coins to play games and then we went to midnight steak n shake again!

Looking back on all of our memories, I dont think I would want them any different. He has made me into the person I am today because he is my best friend. By dating we would just ruin that. How am I so lucky to have someone like him in my life, is beyond me, but everyone finds their someone, and I just found him sooner than some. I couldn't have asked for a better theater partner, life coach, jester, big brother, or a best friend, like him. He brightens my days, afternoons, and nights. I don't know how he does it but he does, and he's excellent at it.

So Nathan, If you have gotten this far, which I hope you have, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for all the times you put up with me when I was difficult; I want to thank you for the years you stuck around with me, four years to be exact. I want to thank you for letting me run to you when I need someone to talk to. Thank you for putting up with my sass and my attitude. Thank you for doing all these girly things with me, thank you for being you when I couldn't be myself, thank you for getting me to laugh when no one else could. Thank you for saving my life with your presence. Thank you for everything I never said thank you to. The countless times you took me to a movie or steak n shake. The many times we went to the water well and splashed water on each other. The thousands of miles of gas you probably wasted on me. The time you took from everything else in your life just to be with me. The time you took just to call me and probably use up all of your minutes. You taught me not to be afraid to go for it, to laugh when I don't want to because it will automatically make me feel better, to cry when I need just to get it out, to be me even when it's hard, to be silly when things get too serious. You are my home, my happy place, my safe place, my person, my go to, my number 1, my partner in crime, my food buddy, my driving buddy, my Xbox companion, a place where I can be me with no restrictions, you are indeed my best freaking friend and I love you more than life itself.

Xoxo -Emily