How We Met and How We Started Dating

My boyfriend and I first met in high school. We’re the same age, but he was one grade below me. I’m a Chinese American who spent some years living in China, and he’s Chinese and later moved to the U.S. We shared a lot of similar experiences, and over time, we became close friends.

We actually liked each other back then, but I never admitted it. Everyone knew he liked me — but no one knew I liked him too.

I was pretty childish at the time. Once, I got mad and blocked him, and that ended up being how we lost touch for a few years. Looking back, I think I was also scared that people would find out how I really felt.

Fate brought us back together in college. We ran into each other, exchanged contact info, and started talking again — but only for a short while. Then we drifted apart again. This happened a few times over the years, and during that time, we both dated other people. But deep down, I think I always still liked him.

I’ve always been hesitant about dating again because I’m afraid things won’t work out. I talked about it with my sister, and she and her boyfriend encouraged me to give love another chance. So I decided to ask him to dinner — planning to finally tell him how I felt.

That night, I was so nervous that I barely talked. In my head, I had prepared everything I wanted to say, but every time I tried, I got too scared. After dinner, we somehow both agreed to go for a walk in the park.

It was cold and raining that night — definitely not ideal — but we went anyway. While we were walking, he brought up memories from high school, which made me even more nervous since that was part of what I had planned to talk about. As we walked and talked, out of nowhere, he said, “My hands are cold,” and then reached for my hand. My heart was pounding so fast. He didn’t say anything else, so we just kept walking, still holding hands.

When we left the park, neither of us wanted the night to end, so we went to an arcade. On the way there, I called my sister and told her what happened — how he held my hand — and asked what she thought it meant. She didn’t know either, so she called her boyfriend, and they both said it was a good sign.

At the arcade, I kept thinking about whether I should say something, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. When we took pictures in the photo booth, he gently pushed my head onto his shoulder, and we took the photos like that — close and quiet.

Later, in the parking lot, neither of us wanted to leave. Finally, he broke the silence. He said he still liked me. I said, “Me too.” Then he asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend. And I said yes.