L is for the Way He Looks at Me <3

I realized after I finished my first blog that I didn't even mention a rather large part of my life. My beau. Our story is so fairy tale-esque that I love telling people about it.

Boy meets girl.
It was almost 7 years ago. We met in a bowling alley. A miracle in and of itself as my parents who are very protective rarely let me go to the bowling alley as late as I planned on going that night. I was going with a big group of friends, including a boy I foolishly had a crush on. This boy, Ryan, who turned out to be a massive jerk invited his friend Brian to join us, but he didn't tell any of us this so we started bowling without his friend. When his friend got their, Ryan told his friend Brian that we had already started bowling and he was SOL and he'd have to bowl alone. Again, none of us in the group knew this at the time. Later, when I spotted a boy bowling alone, I decided I'd invite him to join us. I looped arms with my best friend and skipped over to the boy. "Hi, I'm Erin. You look lonely. And we're going to be friends," I said. Creepster? Was I ever!

Boy likes girl.
I invited Brian to join us. He sat with us in our booth as we munched on concession stand nachos and pretzels. He was apparently hooked on my every word. A fact I know only because he admitted it to me years later. I was oblivious. We exchanged AIM names and went our separate ways.

Boy and girl fall out of contact. (I hate this part.) =(
We spent a few weeks IMing almost religiously but when it seemed like Brian was starting to have feelings for me I panicked and got online less frequently. We slowly lost contact. Though, admittedly, I checked up on him from time to time over the following years. I regularly checked his myspace for any new developments. Then one day, Brian messaged me, leaving his cell phone number. I programmed it into my phone, thinking, 'I'll probably never use this... but what the heck?'

Boy and girl meet again.
Then one night I was running late for a 'girls night' at my friend's house. I had missed dinner and was starving. I begged my mother to let me zip through a drive thru on my way. (I was travelling with my mom and sister at the time.) My sister was driving and I was hanging out the window for one reason or another and as we drove past the dining area I spotted him. Our eyes locked and his jaw dropped. I ducked back inside the car and started laughing. I texted him with the number he had messaged me only days before. "I just saw you," I said. He asked who was texting him so I told him, naturally. He begged me to come back to McDonald's, but I couldn't. I was already running late. He started hanging out with my little sister and I tried dating his friend but it was futile. He wasn't who I wanted to be with. Brian was but I was scared to tell him because my sister and he had been moving toward..some semblance of a 'more than friends' arrangement. So one day, Brian and I were talking. I told him I didn't want to date his friend. "So why don't you be with whoever you want to be with?" he asked. Psh. As if it could be that simple. "Because..." I said softly, "the guy I like is into my sister." I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut. "Really?" I couldn't help but peek at him. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. Adorable. I could only nod in response, too ashamed at what I had confessed. His face broke into a wide grin.

That was almost a year ago. =)
And they lived happily ever after.
(love)