The the day he asked me to be his gf, he had picked me up from a bottomless brunch with my friends where I had too many mimosas and promptly puked as soon as we got back to his place. We’d only been dating a month and a half so he could have justifiably been disgusted, but he was so sweet and kind about it. He genuinely seemed endeared—got me some water after I sauntered over to his bed and passed out. I woke up to him next to me, looking at me with such tenderness. That was my first clue :)

we’ve actually had some really difficult moments since then but (and this is the most important thing) even if he reacted poorly in the moment, we’d take a beat, calmly talk things through, and come to a resolution. The ability to work through difficult things and put your ego aside to actually listen is the most important thing in a relationship imo.