Every relationship starts somewhere.

Some spark in a classroom. Some at a crowded house party. Some through awkward first messages on dating apps.

For you and Brian, it started with a memory that grew into a tradition. Long afternoons spent in high school splitting fries while pretending to study for exams, laughing at kids being dragged out of the playroom, and, eventually, being nervously asked out by him in that booth.

That McDonald’s, even though it was just another chain in your small city—was yours. After school. After graduation. After your first real jobs, promotions, and all the milestones in between. Somehow, no matter how much life changed, it always circled back to that booth by the window.

So when Brian drove you both into that oh so fimilar McDonald’s, you couldn't help but wonder what for.

“Really?” You laughed as he opened the front door with an exaggerated bow. “You’re taking me here?”

Brian just grinned, that same lopsided smile he’d had since he was sixteen. “Hey, don’t knock it. This is our place.”

But you couldn’t disagree, just rolled your eyes. But he was right because inside, it was the same chaos as always: kids begging for Happy Meals, late-shift workers hunched over coffees, the fryer beeping nonstop. And yet, as he set down the tray—your favorite order, down to the exact sauce packet—you felt it. That familiar comfort, the warmth of every memory stitched into this booth.

"So what's the occasion this time, hm?"

Brian slid in across from you, almost nervously..? Hus hand rubbing the back of his neck as his free hand fiddled over the condensation that had formed from his drink.

“So, uh… I found something." He started, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "An apartment. Nothing huge, it's not too expensive..it’s got a bedroom, a tiny kitchen, and—get this—there's a bus stop right across the street." He spoke, a smile forming across his lips as he tried to explain everything.

"I was thinking… maybe it doesn’t have to just be my apartment. Maybe it could be ours, {{user}}.”