You know? I get this question a lot from people who know us. They sort of look bewildered and they ask how we even happened, like we’re a mutation or a disease or something. So look, let me tell you how it all happened though it really is sort of typical and boring. I mean i love our stupid story but it is definitely LAME compared to today’s super blown up and overdone love stories.
Let’s start with I didn’t like him…at all! He was super popular, a football player AND he KNEW he was too cute! This, at the time, was the perfect combination to hate from my self imposed seclusion. I was 17 and all too aware of him walking past me in the halls. I naturally ignored him because I just wanted to get the heck out of high school! Little did I know the classic story of the Jock and the Nerd had already started to unfold.
After graduation we somehow started talking pretty regularly on Facebook and then on the phone. I honestly couldn’t tell you how we actually knew each other. We knew OF each other but never spoke and were never introduced. I don’t even know how this happened! We just started talking and kept doing it! I begrudgingly admitted that he was a really nice guy and I kind of liked him so of course i kept talking to him.
I remember us talking about growing up and having a farm with some chickens, a huge garden and maybe a horse or two. I remember this conversation specifically because I was in what I dubbed the Lemonade Room (I made a pretty bright paint choice) and he was eating macaroni and cheese – I swear he was ALWAYS eating. We were just friends and kept up with each other pretty regularly even though we never really hung out.
I realized I had real feelings for the guy after I had moved out on my own. I can’t remember when that was to be exact but it was 2011. I was living with my then CRAZY significant other and desperately needed a friend. I felt like the fates understood because poof! Lenny lived down the street from my apartment! We were sitting on the couch that I had slaved for and hated, my feet were tucked under his legs because I’m always cold, and we were just talking. I mean the kind of talking that sets your soul right. Obviously I wasn’t in a situation to express my real feelings and neither was he (he was dating someone equally as crazy too!), so we left things alone and continued to just be there for each other when we were able to.
Anyways, like the tide and the shore we would lose each other and come back. It would be months and in some cases a year or two before we spoke again but we always picked up where we left off like nothing happened. It’s kind of twisted and mean but it seemed that anytime we spoke we were in a different relationship and trying to figure out why it wasn’t working. At some point I even told myself I would stop speaking to this man because we were never in a good place to give each other a chance and it sucked too much to keep going through it!
This last time around…Wasn’t ideal or perfect either – There was no movie scene where we run into each other’s arms. I felt like I had trudged myself through a very long war that i had lost. I felt hopeless and a little broken. It just so happens that Leonard popped back up into my life to breathe a little life back into me. We were both at the very very tail end of long emotional relationships and his truck broke down. Yes, we had been talking sporadically before the truck broke down but I feel like the Avalanche (may she rest in peace) was the turning point of EVERYTHING!
He said my truck broke down and I said where are you? I am coming right now. There wasn’t a single doubt about what I would do. I knew he would do the same for me! I offered him my vehicle – we didn’t live far from each other, I worked nights and was slowly transitioning to days, We would be on the same schedule when i finally started day shift so there was no issue or argument! Well a few days passed and I got tired of him losing sleep from driving back and forth. I was already making Lunch and Dinner for 2 at this point anyways so the unspoken decision was for him to stay the night. There was an extra couch (my baby brother was sleeping on the futon already) so we made things work!
It wasn’t long before people started asking the “Are you dating?” question and the first few times i was stunned into silence (impossible i know!) We never talked about it – we never labeled what we were doing – we just needed to be there for each other and to us that’s what mattered. We didn’t decide to actually talk about it until I had acquired a very swollen lip and a new piece of jewelry. I had gotten a wild hair and needed a new piercing and so i asked him if he wanted to get his lip pierced with me. I thought he would politely decline but forever willing to try new things he thought on the request and said ok! (Again Stunned into silence!)
So we are sitting at home and I have a fat lip that makes it hard to talk and we are laying next to each other while I ice my lip (he constructed the cutest blanket Barrier because he is always respectful of my personal space) and I asked him “So does this mean we’re dating because no man in their right mind randomly goes and gets their lip pierced with me on a wild hair?”. He just smiled while holding his face and said “well, what do you think we were doing?” Pfft well Color me happier than a pig in shit!
I was pretty stinking happy at this point and couldn’t believe the reward of my patience. Can you Imagine!?! I’ve been pining away about this guy like Ariel in the sea and BOOM! here he is!? ALL MINE!
And that Ladies and Gents is how we happened.
Becoming A Brooks 