Our intense whirlwind and infatuation to one another was suddenly halted by the messy reality of unaddressed feelings, and we broke up. However, (and in every good love story like ours there has to be a however) we quietly and cautiously kept in touch. For months we darted in and out of each other’s lives, one night of drunken passion here and there, or a fleeting like on the other’s social media posts.
It wasn’t until some 2 years later, 3 separate failed relationships, 5 countries travelled without one another, that we met once more in a bar. He had become that friend that I was catching up with about life. Yet this time, it wasn’t with awe and intensity like 22 year old me might have felt, I saw him for who he was, with all of the wrinkles and creases and mistakes and flaws that we all have.
We talked at length, honestly and openly, about our values and non-negotiables, and how this time we would take things slowly. During the following months, we tentatively met for the odd coffee, a walk on the weekend, or a concert of a mutual band we liked. Sometimes the trust faltered, and we would have long intense conversations about what we needed from one another. Our friends and families tiptoed even more cautiously. But slowly and surely we began to progress through life together.
It became our new unspoken rule to be honest and open and real with each other. We knew we loved all of each other’s best bits, but we both agreed to fall in love with each other’s worst bits too.
It sounds cliche but truly it felt like we were always meant to be together, but only when the time was right. Then last November, in front of all of our loved ones we said I do, and it really was the happiest day of my life. We have since shared the news that we are expecting our first baby, a little boy, due in a couple of months, and I can’t wait for our next big adventure together as parents.
Our love story is just as perfect as 22 year old me hoped it would be, but with way way more honesty, maturity, and communication, and to me that’s the foundation of the strongest relationships there are.
For more from GLAMOUR’s Contributing Editor, Chloe Laws, follow her @chloegracelaws.