I had a very tough day while I was working as a counselor at a sleepaway camp. It was color war, so it was completely normal that my long-time friend happened to be dressed in a makeshift tiger costume. Seeing that I was crying, he came over, gave me a hug and used his tail to dry my eyes.

—Esmeralda

Postscript: We’re best friends. We live in different parts of the country now, but I’m still pretty much in love with him. I regard him as a long-term project.

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My boyfriend from home and I were “on a break.” I was playing a drinking game in a field in Paris with other international students, flirting with a German boy. We found a club, and I ended up dancing with him. I couldn’t stop thinking about my boyfriend. It was an incredible longing to be with him, to feel his body against mine. No cute foreign boy was worth losing him.

—Marie

Postscript: I got mugged on the way home from the club. It was probably God’s way of warning me not to touch other people. That same night, my boyfriend and I ended our break and agreed to be exclusive. We’ve now been dating for more than a year, and I still can’t stop thinking about him.

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We could have a three-hour discussion about the Cubs, argue about the starting lineup, claim that the other person was an idiot in regards to their stance on the Bartman issue, then cook dinner together and watch a romantic comedy. All in one day.

—Margaret

Postscript: We dated for three years, and, after it all, he’s still my best friend.

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He gave me his less-than-hygienic habit of blowing one’s nose on a dirty T-shirt from the laundry pile. One day he was blowing his nose into an old gray tee when I felt my nose starting to run, and I grabbed the same shirt and started blowing, too. When I realized we were both standing in his room, unshowered, sick and blowing into the same snotty T-shirt, I knew.

—Brittney

Postscript: Nine months in!

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We texted back and forth for a while. I realized he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, which in my world is a bit of a turnoff. Then he texted me: “Every time I get a text from you, my dick sturrs.” It was the most inappropriate and cutest text anyone has ever sent me. And I loved it.

—T.C.

Postscript: My inbox is filled with dirty pictures. He is gorgeous, and I’ve learned to get over the grammatical divide.

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I drank too much and thought I might be sick. He came and sat on the bathroom floor with me so I wouldn’t be alone. I didn’t get sick, but I woke up over an hour later with him holding me in his arms on that cold floor. He smiled down at me and said I looked a lot happier after waking up.

—Floored

Postscript: By the time we came back to school in the fall, it was definitely official. We have been dating for over a year now, and things are going really well.

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I had a terrible sore throat and felt pretty miserable. We took a walk on the beach, and he held me in his arms as we stared out at the water—my sore throat went away and I melted into his embrace. I felt invincible.

—Christine

Postscript: That was about three months after we started dating. We’ve now been together for two-and-a-half years, and I’m more in love with him than ever.

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