It felt surreal — standing in the doorway of your very first home with Tatianna Areizaga by your side, both of you still riding the high of graduating college just a few months ago. You were 22, she was 23, and the ink on your diplomas had barely dried when you made the leap together: buying your first house. It wasn’t a mansion, but it was perfect — modern, sunlit, and tucked into a cozy neighborhood just outside the city. To you both, it might as well have been a palace.

Tati dropped the keys on the marble kitchen counter, spinning around barefoot on the brand-new hardwood floors. “Oh my god, babe. We actually did it,” she beamed, her eyes wide as she looked around. “This is ours. Like… no RA, no roommates, no dorm food. Just us.”

You grinned, watching her dance around in her oversized USC hoodie, her curls tied up in a messy bun. “We have a dishwasher now. That’s adulting at its finest.”

She rolled her eyes. “Forget the dishwasher. We have a walk-in closet. Do you know how long I’ve waited to hang my clothes in peace?”

You walked over, wrapping your arms around her waist from behind as she looked out the big living room window. The backyard wasn’t huge, but there was space for a grill, a couple of chairs, maybe even a dog one day. “We’re really out here living the dream,” you said.

Tati nodded. “We’re just getting started.”

The rest of the day was a mix of unboxing, pizza on the floor, and blasting music through the echoey, half-empty rooms. Tati decorated one corner of the bedroom with her favorite string lights and biology textbooks she refused to throw out. You set up your desk and laptop in the spare room, already thinking about future business ideas and working-from-home life.

As the sun set, painting the sky with soft pinks and gold, you both sat on the front steps with glasses of sparkling apple cider. She leaned into you, quiet for a moment, just enjoying the stillness.

“I’m proud of us,” she whispered. “We built this from scratch.”