Carl and Zoey were never really a thing, but you would have been forgiven for thinking otherwise. From the outside you might have thought they were by the way they acted around each other, but truth be told they were just friends. They had met in their final year of college with the threat of graduation looming in front of them, filling them with dread. Adult responsibilities were on the horizon and Carl had never even filed his taxes without the help of his parents. He definitely didn't have a job lined up, he'd majored in psychology after all. The only good news he could report to his overbearing father was that his stoner friend Drew knew a guy who knew a gal who had just started her own practice and was 'actively seeking clinical psychologists'. So no, Carl did not have his shit together. 

Zoey on the other hand, seemed to have it figured out. She'd gotten an offer at one of the big four accounting firms after a successful internship the previous summer and had already found an apartment near her future office a few states up north. Sure it was a kind of shitty apartment, but it was in a nice area and there's a certain charm to that kind of lifestyle, no? 

They'd met at a bar with 8 weeks of school left when Carl, already a few Coronas deep, stumbled past Zoey while she was sitting with her friends. In his effort to get to the bathroom he accidentally knocked over her drink, spilling it onto her lap. 

"What the fuck, man!" Zoey complained. "Oh jeez I am so sorry" Carl apologized. Reaching for some napkins on the table to help soak up the spill, Carl got his first real look at Zoey, an image that wouldn't leave his mind for the rest of his life. She had light brown hair and dark brown eyes, her eyebrows lifted in disappointment, her mouth slightly agape. Just his luck, he'd accidentally spilled a drink on the hottest girl at the bar.

Seeing that the thin paper napkins were doing nothing, Zoey got up to head to the bathroom. Motioning to her friends, Zoey left the table. "I'll be right back guys". Still needing to pee, Carl awkwardly followed her after apologizing again.

The line to the unisex bathroom was especially long that night, and not wanting to sit in the silence for too long Carl tried to make amends.

"I'll buy you a drink?" "Well you already owe me one so you'd just be breaking even" "I'll buy you two drinks?" "Well, I'm not gonna say no to that". "Here, I'll get them while you're waiting in line".

A few minutes later after talking about their time in college and noticing that the line didn't really seem to be moving, Carl offered to let Zoey use the bathroom at his place down the road. 15 minutes later they were making out in his bed.

You'd think that that would have been the cute start to a relationship but time was not on their side. What's the point of starting something new when there's 8 weeks left? At least that's what Carl and Zoey told themselves. So they hung out platonically for the rest of the school year and went their separate ways after graduation, keeping in touch over text and social media but always wondering, 'what if?'.

So friends? For sure. Boyfriend-girlfriend? Nope.

That brings us to 3 years later. After coming home from his work later than usual as a Forensic Psychologist (yes, Carl found a job), Carl noticed a text that made his heart skip a beat. Zoey.

She'd be visiting his city for a few days and needed a place to stay, something about a big weekend conference where she would be speaking. Immediately Carl offered his place. He immediately began to clean up his apartment, his excitement sky high. In all these years she was still the only girl he thought about in that way, even considered being the one. Could this finally be the start of their relationship? About time! Then Zoey texted back. 

Thanks! Is it cool if I bring my girlfriend?

God damn it.