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Melody and Darren first met in elementary school and spent afternoons playing Spider-Man on his PS2 (though Darren insists she was never very good at it). Despite that, they quickly became good friends. Throughout high school they stayed close, partnering on group projects, hanging out after school, and even going to homecoming together. At some point, they made a marriage pact: if they were both still single at 40, they’d marry each other. Luckily, they didn’t have to wait that long.

Melody and Darren ended up going to the University of Texas at Austin together and after a bit of back and forth, they realized they had feelings for each other and officially started dating their junior year.

After graduating, life took them to different cities. Melody moved to New York City and Darren to Chicago, but they found time to see each other nearly every month. When COVID hit, they both moved back to Texas, and eventually in 2021, they made the move to San Francisco together. Since then, they’ve built a life together full of traveling, dancing at music festivals, and discovering all the magic of SF, side by side.

After 7.5 years together, Darren proposed by the Golden Gate Bridge, right in the heart of the city they now call home.