Our story really started in December of 2006. I was home (Carlsbad, NM) on my Christmas break from my Freshman year in college and Kyle was home on his Christmas Break from his senior year in college (cradle robber--I know). We always shared a lot of the same friends and ran in the same circles and this Christmas Break our circles were very much into hanging out at my house and having game nights.
Kyle and I always got along very well. He never admits it really, but I knew he thought I was funny (in my own way) and I think it made him feel good that I was constantly laughing at him. There was flirting going on but never any conversation of whether there was anything there or not. My friend Michael, who is a meddler in the best way, decided to tell Kyle that I liked him and asked Kyle if he liked me. Kyle had never really thought of me in that way before, but after Michael told him I liked him, he started to see the potential of it. The thing is, I had never told Michael that I liked Kyle. He had just witnessed our chemistry and was playing matchmaker.
Kyle and his friends had been going to the Sun Bowl ,which is in El Paso, every year for a few years and for some reason that I can't really remember, I was going this year too. I'm sure it had something to do with wanting to be around Kyle because at that stage in my life I had no desire to watch football. Maybe it was because Rihanna was just coming on the scene and was performing S.O.S. at halftime. Who knows? Anyway, everyone that was going stayed the night at a family friends' house so that we could all just wake up and get on the road to get to El Paso. We all hung out, played ping-pong, etc. and Kyle and I ended up staying up all night talking. I remember that I was wearing a onesie (Yes, I was super early to the onesie party) and Kyle was laughing at the way I say certain words. Other than that, I have no recollection of what we talked about. It had to have been pretty good because if you know me, you know that I absolutely HATE staying up late.
Anyway, we got up (Dec. 29th) and headed to the Sun Bowl. I think it was pretty obvious to anyone around us that there was some attraction between the two of us. It was a little awkward, because who wants to flirt with your big brother hanging around, but I made the best of it knowing that he was headed to Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl on the 31st. We sat next to each other at the game, joked, talked, laughed, and sat together on the way back from the Sun Bowl. There was definitely something there.
So, fast forward . . . he went to Arizona, came back for like a day before I was leaving to go back to Seattle for school and we went on a date. We went to the movies to see Charlotte's Web (the terrible version with Dakota Fanning) and then the next day I headed off back to Seattle. My mom and I drove the whole way from NM to WA so there was a lot of MSN Messenger going on when we would get to a hotel for the night. Kyle and I talked about going to Venice in ten years (I'm holding him to this), music, tv, movies. We talked about a lot. It wasn't until I was at school for a few days that he decided to actually call me.
We started talking on the phone, chatting on Messenger, Myspacing, Facebooking, and texting when he wasn't already at his max amount of texts. I would look forward to a new message from him after class. I urged him to get unlimited texting so we could text during class and what not which plays into our story in just a minute.
I got too much inside my own head and let my nerves get the best of me and decided I was not ready for a relationship and just wanted to be his friend. The thing is, I was scared because I knew we would go the distance because we are so compatible. I let him know this through a message on Myspace (I know, sorry) and then told him "Oh, by the way, I'm not going to be on Social Media for a week-ttyl!. Needless to say, I broke his heart. The day he got my message, his mom had just upgraded their cellular plan to unlimited text. Perfect timing. Not.
Kyle, being unlike any other guy I know, decided that if he couldn't have what he wanted (a relationship) then I couldn't have what I wanted (a friendship). He cut all ties. He did not speak to me for over a year. He wasn't even really that civil, but I get where he was coming from. I always tell him and I believe it wholeheartedly, "If we had gotten together then, when I wasn't ready, we wouldn't have ended up where we are now."
So, let's do some more fast-forwarding, it's April of 2008 (April 28th to be exact) and I posted something on Facebook about having a hard time. MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, Kyle calls me to see if everything is alright. I was shocked he was calling because he was very strict about his "I'm not talking to you; we are not friends thing." I remember him joking and telling me, "You need to break down the walls around your heart." That really stuck with me because I had put up some metaphorical walls around my heart and really didn't let people in all that easy.
That summer, the summer of '08, I was invited to do music at a church camp in Sacramento, NM with a friend. We got to the camp and surprise, Kyle was a counselor. I was not aware he'd be there. He was not aware I'd be there and you could tell from his face when he found out I was going to be there, he was not happy. He was very standoffish at first; playing it super cool. But after a game of horseshoes, he slowly started to warm up. We were back where we left off: laughing and flirting. We had a great time there playing games, music, talking, etc. I started to think, "Maybe there is hope for us. Maybe we will get a second chance."
We came home from that camp and started hanging out more. He would come over to my house to hang out with my brother but would stick around long after my brother would leave to go to work. I remember one rainy afternoon in July when he and I were on my back porch playing ping pong. He was wearing a gray shirt, my favorite shirt of his, and I remember thinking, "It's official. I like him, a lot."
My friend and I left for Dallas to go see some old friends and Kyle and I texted the entire time. I probably bugged my friend and wasn't very present because I was pretty involved in always communicating in some way with Kyle. Most nights while in Dallas, I would fall asleep texting Kyle. I was so excited to get back to Carlsbad so I could see him. We headed home on a Sunday (July 13th) and while on our way, my friend had a blowout, which delayed my arrival quite a bit. When you are in that first phase of a relationship where you are just dying to see the other person at all times it can be torture to have a blowout on an 8 hour road trip.
We eventually made it home and Kyle was at my house for my mom's birthday party. I was so excited to be back and to see him. At this point, we still had not really talked about where this all was going. The next day, July 14th, we were both supposed to be helping with VBS at FUMC. When I got there and went to find out which group I was the leader of I found out that I was in the same group as Kyle. I believe this was most likely orchestrated by someone who wanted to see us end up together. We had a great time with the kids and made plans to watch a movie later that night.
He came to my house and we decided to watch Moulin Rouge, which is a favorite of ours and something we had talked about back in 2006. We put on the movie but spent most of the movie and hours and hours afterward just talking and laughing. I think he left my house at like 5 in the morning, which again says how much I really liked him because I don't stay up for just anyone. He joked about how I would have to handle all the kids by myself because he needed to get some sleep after staying up late. As far as I can remember we didn't really ever have the talk about what we were but it was that night, July 14th, that we both just knew that we were starting something really great.
That summer is one of my favorite summers to date and six years later he is still making me laugh.
I thank God that He placed Kyle in my life and made sure we got it right the second time.
This is the first photo we took together as boyfriend and girlfriend. He was 23 and I was just a baby, 20 years old. He is wearing the gray shirt that he was wearing when I had that, "this is who I'm going to spend the rest of my life with" moment.
Love you, Kyle. Thanks for the best 6 years of my life.
Xoxo,
Nicole
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