My Best Friends Fell in Love - Part 3 💌
Welcome back for part 3! As their last year of college approaches, Aidan and Grace rekindle their romance...
Thanks for being here to read part 3 of Aidan and Grace’s nonfiction love story! If you missed the first couple parts of the story, no worries! Click here to read part 1 or click here to read part 2 now. 🩷
Quick Housekeeping This Week:
This is week 3 out of 5 in the serial sharing of Aidan and Grace’s nonfiction love story!
IMPORTANT: There will be pieces from the original story missing from my Substack serial publication. This is to maintain the privacy of my friends. I only post content written for my clients if they have pre-approved the publication. I will not be sharing any moments or information that my clients are uncomfortable sharing with the public, so please bear with me as I replace some sections with brief summaries. I have also changed some names to maintain privacy for characters who are not my clients.
I offer personalized nonfiction love stories as a service. This is how I make my living! If you’re interested in having a special memory, collection of events, or full love story immortalized in your very own printed book, don’t hesitate to save your spot on my project-for-hire list or schedule a free consultation with me here to ask any questions that you may have. (P.S. I’ve also discovered that a story like this makes for the coolest surprise gift for a loved one!)
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Thanks for reading my housekeeping notes this week. Here’s part 3!
The Love Story of Aidan and Grace - Part 3
December 2021
By December 2021, two long years had passed since Aidan and Grace last dated. Though they weren’t nearly as close as before, the pair had kept in touch, even amidst a global pandemic, long distance summers, and the awkwardness of changing their status from dating to “just friends.”
But the gap between them steadily grew wider. It was just too difficult for them to hang out like they did during their freshman year. If Aidan spent too much time with Grace, he quickly redeveloped feelings; if Grace spent too much time with Aidan, she feared she’d give him the wrong impression and end up hurting him again.
Nonetheless, Grace missed Aidan deeply. Emma and Aidan had remained close friends, and by junior year, Grace found herself often wishing she could join them on their ice cream outings and evening hang-outs in Emma’s room at the girls’ shared apartment.
One such evening, with Emma and Aidan in the room next door, Grace cried as she relayed her feelings to God. Tucked under her covers, she prayed that someday she might be able to grow close to Aidan again. She asked that, if God wanted them together, He would blossom their relationship once more.
Aidan missed Grace, too. Over Christmas break, as he wound through the flat twists and turns of a Texas country road, the melody of Kolby Cooper’s “Cannonball” rang clear from his car speakers. When Kolby began to sing, the words seemed to melt in Aidan’s eardrums. One line especially struck him: “She ain’t getting more single.”
That was all Aidan needed to hear. He dashed home, picked up his cell phone and dialed Grace’s number.
From her house in Kansas, Grace was taken aback when his name appeared on her screen. A bit nervously, she answered the call.
“Hello?” She started.
“Hey,” Aidan replied. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
That’s when he told her everything he felt; he told her how much he missed being friends, how he wanted to be in her life again, how he was really sorry if he’d made things awkward. He told her how he wanted to start spending time together when school started back up. Although he couldn’t see it, Grace smiled wide from her room in Kansas.
She was so grateful for his call. It was a relief that he’d cleared the air. Grace would’ve reached out herself, but she felt like she couldn’t. It didn’t seem to be her place; she needed to know that he was really okay with being just friends if that’s how things worked out.
Grace admitted that she missed him, too; she missed the memories they’d made when they were together, the way he’d always made her laugh, and the peace she’d felt when she was with him.
They ended the call on good terms, both excited to see what was in store for them once they returned to campus in January.
July 24, 2022
Despite the optimism they’d developed over winter break, the spring semester didn’t turn out to be all sunshine and roses for Aidan and Grace. They tried to hang out more often, but the relationship was still a little awkward. Aidan feared that he’d bother Grace if he reached out too often, but Grace thought she should wait for Aidan to propose opportunities to hang out. Whenever they did spend time together, Aidan was rather unsurprised to find that his old feelings for Grace were still there. He couldn’t spend time around her without wanting to be with her, and it’s torture to love someone who doesn’t feel the same.
What Aidan didn’t know was that Grace was starting to feel for him, too. Her curiosity about him steadily rose, intrigued by the possibility of the pair developing into something more than just friends. When summer rolled around, Grace masked her excitement in discovering that she, Emma, and Aidan would all be staying in Waco for the break. This would pave the way for her to spend more time with Aidan without forcing awkward one-on-one plans.
Her feelings had advanced considerably by July 24. On this particular warm summer evening, the trio planned to hang out. They grabbed teas from HTeaO before heading to Lake Waco to watch the sunset. Knowing that sunset watching was one of Grace’s favorite activities, Emma walked off with her spunky Shih Tzu, Ollie, to give Grace and Aidan some alone time. With their teas at their sides, the two sat beside each other in the grass, grateful for the warmth, the view, the long break from school, and - most of all - the company. They watched in awe as the sky shimmered orange, then auburn, then pink. While the sun dipped below the rippling lake, Aidan reflected on the beauty of Grace’s hair in the waning light, her golden strands fluttering about with the soft evening breeze. Grace grinned at the sky, marveling at God’s artwork and the sweet servant of His who enjoyed it with her.
The trio soon headed home. They rolled down the car windows, filling the night sky with peaceful acoustic melodies and soaking in the joy of the fading summer day. Grace made out Ollie’s reflection in the rear view mirror, his tongue flying and his fur plastered back by the wind. His typical mischievous expression had been replaced by a lopsided, goofy grin.
They pulled into the complex’s garage and successfully rounded the 8 dangerous corners to Emma’s parking spot. As they made their way inside, Emma suggested they watch a movie.
“That’d be fun,” Grace smiled.
“Sounds good,” Aidan agreed. “What should we watch?”
“How about Titanic?” Emma suggested. “Grace said she’s been wanting to see it for forever.”
Aidan would’ve internally groaned, but he nodded instead. He was much less interested in the movie than he was in spending extra time with Grace. Even though Titanic wouldn’t have been his first choice, at least it had a really long run time.
“Perfect,” Grace replied. She shot Emma a sideways grin.
They reached the girls’ apartment and crowded into Emma’s room. Emma grabbed her laptop and scooted to the far end of her bed, allowing Aidan to sit on the other side and Grace to squeeze in between them. With all the strength his stubby little legs could muster, Ollie hopped up on the bed, made a few circles, and plopped down at Emma’s feet.
As the movie began, Grace started to feel the same way she had when she’d rested her head on Aidan’s shoulder over two and a half years prior. It was a mixture of nerves and excitement, a fluttering that grew more intense the longer she sat beside him.
Finally, she went for it. Taking a deep breath, she casually rested her head against Aidan’s arm.
He froze. Butterflies ran through Grace, and she prayed he wouldn’t jerk away.
He didn’t. Aidan sat perfectly still, afraid that if he moved, even in the slightest, she’d lift up her head for good like she had their freshman year.
Completely oblivious, Emma stared intently at her computer screen, watching a young Leonardo DiCaprio charm a poised Kate Winslet. Ollie was now fast asleep, his little body heaving as he breathed.
As the film went on, neither Aidan nor Grace budged, even though Aidan’s arm soon fell asleep and Grace’s neck cramped up from staying in the same position for too long. They remained perfectly still, their chests rising and falling in unison as Leo wrapped his arms around Kate at the bow of the Titanic.
August 17, 2022
In early August, Grace took a trip home to visit her family in Kansas. She and Aidan still hadn’t defined their relationship. It seemed to Grace that they were in some sort of a “talking” stage, but neither one of them had advanced the idea of dating yet. Plus, Grace wanted Aidan to be the one to ask her out, so she waited patiently for him to take the lead.
That didn’t stop her, however, from listing the summer’s updates to her father while she visited home. As they ran an errand together, Grace filled him in on the events that had transpired over the past few months and her unsurety of where she and Aidan now stood. Her dad turned to her with one of those warm, comforting smiles that only fathers can give.
“You know,” he said. “They write movies about stuff like this.”
Grace laughed lightheartedly, her face warming with joy. Even in the uncertain in-between, everything with Aidan felt right.
While Grace was away, Aidan missed her even more than he’d expected. He’d deeply enjoyed the time they’d spent together that summer, and he really wanted to ask her out. He just wasn’t sure whether she was ready to say yes. Even more frightening was the possibility that she would say yes, but it wouldn’t work out… again. He desperately didn’t want to go through that pain a second time.
Aidan decided to consult the only person who knew both himself and Grace well: Emma. So one night, while Grace was away, he accompanied Emma on her nightly trip to take Ollie out to the bathroom.
They strolled along in the dark, Ollie nothing more than a white blob of fur bounding through the grass beside them. Emma listened quietly as Aidan rambled on about how much he liked Grace, how he didn’t want to mess up their friendship again, and how he feared it wouldn’t work out, even if he went for it.
“Why don’t you just tell her how you feel?” Emma asked, her brow furrowed.
The pair took a seat on the dirty curb right outside of the parking garage, Emma’s little dog curling up in the grass beside her.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I just don’t want to ruin our friendship again. Plus, what if she doesn’t feel the same way?”
“Aidan,” Emma huffed, exasperated. “First off, I’m her best friend, and I’m telling you she’s interested. But even if I’m wrong, you’re about to be seniors! If it doesn’t work out, you’ll graduate in nine months and never see each other again. If it does work out, you’ll be so glad you went for it.”
He stared at the concrete. “Yeah,” he nodded. “I guess that’s true.”
“Plus,” Emma added, “if you don’t go for it, you’ll always be kicking yourself, wondering what could have been.”
That hit home. For the next few days, Aidan’s head was spinning as he questioned, self-bargained, and ultimately wound himself into a ball of stress.
But by August 17, when Grace returned from her visit home, Aidan had determined that he would take Emma’s advice.
However, he waited until the evening, wanting to reconnect with Grace first and make sure things felt right between them. Knowing her affinity for plants, Aidan took Grace to a Waco greenhouse, where they wandered about admiring the greenery for sale. After the greenhouse trip, Aidan dropped Grace off at her apartment. She had a school event to attend, but he agreed to return later that night so that they could spend more time together.
As promised, he came back, and for a while, the pair sat in Grace’s room watching The Office on her laptop. As an episode ended, Aidan reached over and pressed pause.
He knew that he had to try to be with her, even if it didn’t work out in the end.
“Look,” he breathed, turning to face her. “I have to tell you something.”
She stared back at him, her big blue eyes expectant. “Okay. What’s up?”
His heart beat faster.
“I like you. I mean, I still like you. I didn’t want to say anything because I don’t want to mess up our friendship again, but I can’t ignore how I feel, and I know we’re gonna graduate at the end of the year anyways.”
Grace listened patiently, fighting the urge to smile. She was giddy and anxious, but in a good way; his words were sweet, exciting, and scary, all at the same time. She nodded as he spoke, but she said very little.
This made Aidan’s nerves skyrocket. When he left later that evening, he was relieved that he’d gotten the truth off his chest, but he felt a little puzzled. Why hadn’t Grace said much in response? She didn’t seem opposed to the idea of going out again, but she didn’t say anything particularly reassuring, either.
What Aidan didn’t realize was that Grace really was excited about what he’d shared. She was interested in him, she was just apprehensive as well, terrified of hurting him like she had when she’d demoted them to “just friends” status back in 2019.
In fact, Grace was so overcome with emotion when he left that she cried tears of joy, excitement, and uncertainty. Although she sat alone beneath the twinkle lights strung about her room, she knew that God was with her, and she was ready for whatever plans He had to come.
*Names changed for privacy purposes
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Emma, that must have been hard for you not to just push him - or even a soft shove.
“They grabbed teas from HTeaO”
That made me smile.