One month.

It took one month from my previous breakup before you slid into my Snapchat DMs and forever changed my world.

I was pretty much past the grieving stage of the breakup of my previous 5-year relationship and I was starting to embrace life as a single woman, spending the majority of my time focusing on school and friends. I even distinctly remembering vowing to remain single, not only to my friends and my family but to myself. Sure, I went on some dates, but it was nothing serious.

And that was the point: I didn't want serious.

My eyes were on the prize, and nothing was going to stop me. Starting a new relationship would mess up all of the hard work I put into myself after having my heart brutally broken. I didn't want to meet anyone knew and get distracted from my goals and aspirations.

Then, you came along.

It was unexpected. I had known about you from our high school, and we had been "friends" on social media since. You had the funniest Snapchats and tweets, and I had always secretly had a little crush on you. Because of that little crush, I would try to get your attention by favoriting all your tweets - even if they were about sports — which I knew nothing about.

One day, you drunkingly messaged me, and from there, we became inseparable.

Although my guard was up and I was wary of pursuing anything, we shared our biggest dreams, secrets, and fears with no judgment. You became the best friend I wasn't looking for, and you became a trusted confidant for my heart. My family and friends were extremely skeptical of you, but you couldn't stay away.

You waited.

As you waited, no matter how hard it was or how much crap we got from our friends and family, I began to fall in love with my best friend.

My father used to tell me that the way you know that someone is the "one" is if you fell in love with your best friend. And I did.

We became two parts of one, beautiful soul. We give each other what the other needs, and that is exactly how love should be. Our love was and continues to be a constant growth, and this love came to us in a needed part of our life.

People like to put us in the category of "opposites attract". Everyone always jokes that I'm the anxious, uptight one and he's the funny, charming guy. He kept me wild and I kept him safe. He's the Jim to my Pam, the bread to my peanut butter. He gives me everything I want and need, and visa-versa. He understood me and I understood him, and everything felt right.

To the boy who showed up unexpectedly, thank you for teaching me to love again.

After countless mistakes, people, trials, and errors, I stumbled upon my best friend and for once, it felt like home.

Thank you for balancing my soul, and for starting a life together. Thank you for filling that missing part that I've been looking for forever, and filling it with happiness and unconditional love. Thank you for walking this journey with me, side by side, hand in hand, despite the people who doubted us or tried to defeat us. Thank you for giving me a year and a half of pure happiness.

As the saying goes, the best love is the love that is unexpected, and I can 100% testify to this.

You taught me how to love myself and others again, and for that, I have nothing but gratitude for you.

I can't wait to continue this adventure called life together. We always say it's you and me against the world, forever and always.

A year down, a lifetime to go. I sure like the odds of that.