Whenever I write about how our relationship started, it always goes back to that one August evening that changed everything.

But I realized that I never got the chance to mention how we actually started talking and hanging out. Today, when I finally got home from a long and tiring day at work, I thought about that one conversation that started it all. It just kind of popped in my mind — it was so sudden, that I had to write about it.

It started with a greeting. Every month, the names of all the birthday celebrants for that month are posted on our office’s bulletin board. Now, here’s something you should know about me: I am in love with bulletin boards because it is where I usually find everything I need to know (schedules, announcements, etc).

It was June and I saw a bunch of names — including my friend’s. I was with that friend when I saw the names and I greeted him a happy birthday knowing that it won’t be until the end of the month because I’m way too extra like that.

In the afternoon, I bumped into one of the people on the list when I was making myself a hot cup of chocolate in the pantry. The conversation went like this:

Me: Happy birthday!
Him: What?! Sa Sunday pa. Batiin mo dapat ulit ako sa Sunday para birthday ko talaga.
Me: Okay, pero happy birthday padin. Libreeee!

Then came Monday, and I received a bag of gummy worms from him. It made me smile, really, because I was only kidding and I honestly forgot that I even said that.

Looking back now, I realized that that wasn’t actually the first time we talked. There were a bunch of other times, too. Like that time when he asked if he could borrow my charger, those afternoons where we always end up bumping into each other on our way to the rest room (which I soon learned that he did on purpose), or that one Monday morning when he actually told me that he liked my dress which got me thinking at the time how he could possibly remember what I wore last Friday when I couldn’t even remember it myself.

He was like a real life version of all the fictional characters I dream of having as a boyfriend: He is Peter Kavinsky, sweet and understanding. He is a mix of Noah Shaw and Jace Wayland, who made me feel like he’ll always be there to protect me.

Basically, it’s like he was pulled out of a Nicholas Sparks novel — he always look at me with that adoration in his own eyes like it’s the first time he’s ever seen me, he talks to me with all of his attention, he holds my hand as if we’re not going to see each other the next day.

He sees me as a wild cat while other people before him only made me feel like a stuffed animal — for display and label, boring, and just something they’d eventually get rid of.

With him, every day feels like a fairytale or Valentine’s Day. I never realized it before, but I think it’s true that home really is just two arms and a heartbeat.

I just needed to write this down to remind myself to always look for ways to be positive and to see the brighter side of everything because I tend to forget that life can be beautiful.