Our story is a classic friends-to-lovers rom-com…except without the weird love triangles…and it gets way more Pentecostal toward the end. It was October 2014 on UVA’s campus. Micah was a shy first year; Kwame was an admittedly unsure second year. Micah was nervous to attend OneWay—UVA’s Black campus ministry—by herself, but was quickly comforted by Kwame striking up a conversation. We immediately bonded over our love for Christian Hip Hop. If you ask Micah, she was just coming to Large Group to mind her business. If you ask Kwame, he was just being a good leader. Though the vibes were totally platonic, Micah immediately thought Kwame was cute. Little did we know, that first encounter at OneWay would be the beginning of our love story. The following year, our friendship would deepen, with the help of late-night study sessions and Cookout trips with our friends Justin and Kayla. Micah was also coerced into joining OneWay’s worship team where Kwame was already a co-leader, using his gifts of guitar playing and musical arrangement for the Lord. In 2016, we began co-leading OneWay’s worship team and…let’s just say don’t plan set lists with your crush unless you plan to marry them. Music would become our connecting thread. The sounds that spoke to the deepest places in our souls were the same. It was always call and response between us. Sending each other song recommendations continues to be one of our favorite pastimes. As friends, Micah saw Kwame’s heart for the Lord, playful personality, and brilliant mind (and did we mention that smile?). After long days of African-American studies classes and theatre rehearsals, Kwame, a soon-to-be softwear engineer, was the person that Micah wanted to talk to the most. Kwame saw Micah’s sense of humor, affability, and magnetic quirkiness. Whether he was willing to admit it or not, Kwame found a kindred soul in Micah. Though Micah was falling for Kwame, he didn’t feel the same way. After we each graduated—Kwame in 2017 and Micah in 2018—we moved to Silver Spring, MD, and New York City, respectively. We were still homies but weren’t as close. But in 2020, our lives changed (well, like, everyone’s did…but this is our story). That fall, after quarantining at home in Kansas, Micah moved back to Charlottesville. Kwame and Micah started hanging again, with friends. The feelings were still there. After a lot of prayer, Micah decided to tell Kwame that she had feelings for him, in an effort to explain why she wanted to end the friendship. But…Kwame had been praying, too. To Micah’s surprise, Kwame told her that he wanted to give dating a shot! So, in January of 2021, Kwame gave Micah a little cake which said, “Will you go out with me? Yes, no, maybe?” Of course, Micah said yes! We spent the next 3 years dating while separated by a 2.5-hour drive (oh, the agony!) We found dozens of fire restaurants, binge-watched Friday Night Lights, and danced at some incredible concerts. Our first date included crate digging at a Charlottesville record shop. And on October 7th, 2023, Kwame proposed with an original song at the top of the Blue Ridge Parkway. After almost a decade of friendship, we couldn’t be more thrilled to spend the rest of our lives together. We are so excited to celebrate this story of God’s poetry and faithfulness with you!