Towards the end of just another failed Bumble date as Carly was beyond fed up with the San Diego dating scene, her date asked if she would like to come end the night at his friends ugly Christmas sweater party at his apartment complex, later to be known as the “compound." Not having the heart to turn him down, she reluctantly agreed that since her car was parked at the complex she'd come in for a few minutes before heading back down to Bird Rock. Flash forward a couple minutes after walking in the door, she found herself at the long table of festive apps as her "date" was saying hi to all of his friends. This is where she began her conversation with Ian, another resident from the compound. Looking around at the paired-up couples in the room, she assumed he was there with his significant other as well. Then, the person she had predicted was his girlfriend, he proceeded to introduce as his roommate. A bit further into their conversation, it became clear that he was in fact single, and she started to feel hopeful that this night just might be turning around! Then, the covert operation began. How were we going to exchange phone numbers without being so obvious and most importantly, how was Ian going to walk Carly to her car so he can give her a kiss without her former date lurking around. Thankfully, Carly’s former date called her over to let her know that “he thinks she’s super rad but I think we can both agree we aren’t a match.” From that point forward they were able to continue talking without feeling guilty. However, they weren’t out of the thick of it yet! At the end of the night as it came time for Ian to give Carly that much awaiting kiss goodnight, her former date (having over-served himself) was adamant to do the gentleman-like thing and walk her out to her car. She was cornered for minutes convincing him that it’s not necessary, when he looked away for a second, she bolted out the door where Ian was awaiting her. What Carly had planned on being a few minutes at this ugly sweater party just to escape from her date, and what Ian had planned on just being a free meal because his neighbor always put out a great spread, turned into the start of their lives together. They each had a feeling, from the beginning, that the other person was someone special, someone that they would want to spend forever with, and they were right!