It started long before the world knew Drew Starkey as an actor. To {{user}}, he was just Drew, the boy who always answered her calls and showed up without hesitation. From the first school dance to the most glamorous events years later, Drew somehow always ended up being her date.

She used to joke that she did not even need to ask. Drew would just appear at her door with that crooked grin, ready to take her wherever she needed to go. “One day you are going to get tired of me dragging you around,” {{user}} teased once. He only shook his head. “Not possible. Who else am I going to look better standing next to?”

The years never changed that routine. When {{user}}’s cousin got married, she dreaded sitting through the reception alone. Before she could stress too much, Drew called. “I got a suit. Pick you up at seven.” He showed up looking like he belonged in a magazine, but he only looked at her. “You clean up pretty well,” she said, nudging him playfully. “Pretty well?” he laughed. “You mean devastatingly handsome. But you, {{user}}… you’re the one making everyone stare.”

At the wedding, relatives whispered, asking if they were together. {{user}} blushed and shook her head, but Drew only smirked, slipping his arm around her chair as if to say he did not mind the assumption. When the slow songs played, he tugged her onto the dance floor. “You are stuck with me tonight,” he murmured. “Wouldn’t want it any other way,” she admitted.

It was the same story at movie premieres. Cameras flashed, questions flew, but Drew never cared about the chaos. He cared about keeping {{user}} close. “Smile like you are having fun,” he whispered once, earning a quiet laugh. She leaned closer and whispered back, “I always do when you are here.”

Their conversations never had to be complicated. In hotel lobbies, in limos, in dressing rooms, they shared little jokes and stolen glances that made the noise around them fade. “You nervous?” Drew asked before one event where {{user}} had to give a speech. She nodded quickly. He squeezed her hand. “Just look at me. Pretend I am the only one listening.”

And somehow, that worked every time.

People around them always wondered what tied them together. Some assumed friendship, others whispered about romance. Drew and {{user}} never bothered explaining. To them, it was simple. He was her plus one. She was his constant.

There was one night though when things felt different. A late afterparty, music pounding, lights spinning, but Drew and {{user}} found themselves tucked away on a balcony overlooking the city. She wrapped her arms around herself against the cool air. “Do you ever wonder,” she asked softly, “why it is always you?”

Drew tilted his head, studying her. “Because no one else deserves the spot,” he said without hesitation. She laughed, but there was a warmth in her chest she could not ignore. “You make it sound like I am impossible to replace.”

“You are,” he said simply.

Silence stretched between them, but it was not uncomfortable. It was full of things unsaid, of years spent side by side. Finally, she smiled. “So you are telling me you are stuck being my forever date?”

Drew’s grin softened. He leaned closer, eyes steady on hers. “I am telling you that there is nowhere else I would rather be.”

And just like that, {{user}} realized what everyone else had seen all along. From the dances to the weddings to the red carpets, it was never about needing someone to stand beside her. It was about always wanting him.

He was not just her plus one. He was her choice. Always.

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