Updated Dec 4, 2025 • ~8 min read
Three months into dating Barry Dale, Savannah woke up in his bed on a Sunday morning and realized she was completely, terrifyingly happy.
They’d established a rhythm. Weeknight dinners at each other’s apartments. Saturday mornings at the farmer’s market. Sunday brunch with friends. Movie nights and long walks and comfortable silence.
They’d had two more fights—one about Barry’s tendency to fix her problems instead of just listening, one about Savannah’s habit of overthinking every little thing. Both times, they’d worked through it. Talked it out. Come out stronger.
And now, three months in, Savannah couldn’t imagine her life without this.
Without him.
“You’re thinking loudly again,” Barry mumbled into his pillow, not opening his eyes.
“How do you always know?”
“I can feel it. Your whole body tenses up.” He reached for her, pulling her close. “What’s on your mind?”
“Just… this. Us. How good everything is.”
“That’s a bad thing?”
“No. It’s perfect. That’s what scares me.”
Barry opened his eyes then, studying her face. “You’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Maybe.”
“Sav, we’ve been friends for ten years. We’ve been dating for three months. This isn’t a fluke. This is us figuring out how to be together after years of almost. It’s supposed to feel good.”
“I know. I just—I’ve never felt like this before. With anyone.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m home. Like everything makes sense.” She touched his face gently. “Like I could do this forever.”
Barry’s expression softened. “Good. Because I plan on keeping you forever.”
“Forever’s a long time.”
“Not long enough.”
She kissed him, morning breath and all. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now stop overthinking and come back to sleep. It’s Sunday. We’re allowed to be lazy.”
Later that morning, they met Zane, Emery, and a few other friends for brunch at their usual spot. Everyone had gotten used to Barry and Savannah being together now. The novelty had worn off, replaced by comfortable acceptance.
“Three months,” Emery observed, sipping mimosas. “That’s like, a milestone in adult dating.”
“Is it?” Savannah asked.
“It’s when you figure out if you’re serious or just having fun. And you two—” She gestured between them. “Definitely serious.”
“Ten years of friendship, three months of dating,” Zane said. “But you’ve basically been together a decade. You just made it official recently.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” Barry agreed.
“So when are you two moving in together?” Emery asked.
Savannah nearly choked on her coffee. “What?”
“Moving in. You’re basically living together already. You stay at each other’s places all the time. Why not make it official?”
“We’ve only been dating three months,” Savannah protested.
“But you’ve known each other ten years. You already know all the annoying habits and terrible quirks. Why wait?”
Savannah glanced at Barry. He was carefully studying his menu, expression unreadable.
“It’s too soon,” she said firmly.
“If you say so.” Emery didn’t look convinced.
After brunch, Barry drove Savannah back to his apartment—she’d left clothes there Friday night. In the car, the silence felt heavy.
“What are you thinking?” Savannah asked.
“About what Emery said.”
“About moving in together?”
“Yeah.” Barry glanced at her. “Is it too soon? Objectively, yes. We’ve only been officially dating for three months. But—”
“But we’ve known each other ten years.”
“And I already know I want this long-term. I’m not dating you to see if it works out. I’m dating you because I already know it works.”
Savannah’s heart raced. “Barry—”
“I’m not saying we should move in together tomorrow. But eventually? Yeah. I want that. I want to wake up with you every morning and come home to you every night. I want all of it, Sav.”
“Me too,” she whispered. “I want that too.”
“But?”
“But I’m scared. What if we rush things and mess it up? What if—”
“What if we don’t? What if we take our time and figure it out and it’s perfect?”
She didn’t have an answer for that.
That week, work exploded for Savannah. Her boss assigned a massive project with an impossible deadline. She spent late nights at the office, surviving on coffee and stress.
Barry brought her dinner Wednesday night. Showed up at her office at eight PM with Thai food and fortune cookies.
“You didn’t have to do this,” Savannah said, but she was already digging into the pad thai.
“I know. I wanted to.” He settled into the chair across from her desk. “How much longer are you working?”
“Couple more hours, probably.”
“I’ll wait.”
“Barry, you don’t have to—”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to.” He pulled out his laptop. “I’ll work on my own stuff. Keep you company.”
Two hours later, Savannah looked up from her computer to find Barry asleep in the chair, laptop balanced on his knees.
Her heart clenched.
He’d stayed. Even though he could have gone home, could have been comfortable in his own apartment, he’d stayed to keep her company.
This was love. Not grand gestures or dramatic declarations. Just showing up. Being there. Making her life easier in small, quiet ways.
“Barry,” she said softly, touching his shoulder.
He startled awake. “What? Did I fall asleep?”
“Yeah. Come on. Let’s go home.”
“Your place or mine?”
“Doesn’t matter. Whichever’s closer.”
They ended up at Savannah’s apartment. Fell into bed exhausted, wrapped around each other.
“Thank you for staying tonight,” Savannah murmured into the darkness.
“Always.”
The project consumed the next two weeks. Savannah barely had time to breathe, let alone maintain a relationship. But Barry was there anyway. Bringing food, making her take breaks, rubbing her shoulders when the stress got too much.
When she finally delivered the project—perfectly completed, despite the impossible deadline—Barry took her out to celebrate.
“Fancy dinner,” he announced. “The kind with multiple forks and wine pairings.”
“You hate fancy dinners.”
“But you love them. And you just kicked ass on a major project. We’re celebrating properly.”
The restaurant was beautiful. Candlelight and soft music and food that was more art than sustenance.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Savannah said, looking around.
“You deserve it. You worked so hard these past two weeks.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you. Literally. I would have forgotten to eat.”
“That’s what I’m here for. Making sure you remember basic human needs like food and sleep.”
“Is that all you’re here for?”
Barry reached across the table, taking her hand. “I’m here because I love you. Because watching you work toward your goals is inspiring. Because I want to celebrate your wins and support you through your struggles. Because you’re my person.”
Savannah’s eyes stung. “How are you real?”
“I’m not that special—”
“You absolutely are. You showed up every night for two weeks. Brought me food and kept me company and never once complained that I was too busy for real dates.”
“That’s just what you do when you love someone.”
“Not everyone does that. My ex-boyfriends certainly didn’t.”
“Then your ex-boyfriends were idiots.” Barry squeezed her hand. “You’re it for me, Sav. I’m in this for the long haul. Bad weeks and good weeks and everything in between.”
“I love you so much it scares me sometimes.”
“Ditto.”
They finished dinner talking about everything and nothing. Made plans for a weekend trip next month. Discussed Zane’s new girlfriend and Emery’s work drama and whether they should get a cat.
“Wait,” Savannah said. “Get a cat? Together?”
“Eventually. When we—” Barry stopped. “Sorry. I keep jumping ahead.”
“To moving in together?”
“Yeah.”
Savannah took a breath. “What if we talked about it? For real. Not hypothetically.”
“You want to talk about moving in together?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. It feels soon, but also—we’ve basically been living together already. I stay at your place four nights a week. You’re at mine the other three. We’re just splitting time between two apartments.”
“So logistically, it makes sense.”
“But emotionally—”
“Emotionally, I’m ready whenever you are. But there’s no rush. We can keep doing what we’re doing for as long as you need.”
“What if I’m ready sooner than I think I should be?”
Barry smiled. “Then we talk about it. Look at places. Figure out what makes sense. There’s no rulebook here, Sav. We get to write our own.”
“Our own timeline.”
“Exactly.”
They left the restaurant hand in hand, the city lights glittering around them.
“Thank you for tonight,” Savannah said as they walked. “For celebrating with me. For everything.”
“Always.”
That word again. Always.
Three months ago, Savannah had been terrified to risk their friendship. Now, she couldn’t imagine not taking that risk.
Couldn’t imagine her life without Barry in it. Not just as her best friend, but as her partner.
Her person.
“Hey,” Barry said, stopping on the sidewalk. “What are you thinking?”
“That I’m really glad we finally figured this out.”
“Me too.”
“And that maybe—maybe moving in together isn’t as scary as I thought.”
His eyes widened. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Not tomorrow. But soon. Let’s start looking.”
Barry’s grin could have lit up the entire city. “Really?”
“Really. We’ve wasted enough time being scared. Let’s do this.”
He kissed her right there on the sidewalk, holding her close like he never wanted to let go.
Three months of dating.
Ten years of loving each other.
And a future that was finally, wonderfully real.
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