A Romantic's Guide To Tears And Chocolate

Surprise!

My wonderful boyfriend and I met online three years ago when we were both fifteen. I had lost my library card and was in desperate need of a good book. I know, it probably sounds a bit pathetic that I needed a book so bad, but reading was one of the main things that calmed me when I was stressed. I was only fifteen at the time, which meant no job and no money, so it's not like I could go out and buy a book. So, I resorted to the internet.

I was surfing around Google for online stories when I found this website called Wattpad. I was kind of amazed that this website even existed. I mean, tons of free stories and I don't even have to leave my house to get them? Yes, please.

Anyway, I made an account and immediately became addicted; I was on the website practically everyday. One day, I came across a story called Black and White and fell in love with it instantly. It was a mystery story and a damn good one at that. I was so hooked that I spent all of that Saturday reading it. Once it was finished, I decided to check out the author and see if they had any other stories. Turns out the person that wrote it was a guy with the username tanbball.

After looking around his profile, I was excited to see that he had another story, but it wasn't finished yet. I added it to one of my reading lists and decided to read his bio. There wasn't much there except that his name was Tanner and he loved basketball as well as writing. Well, that explained his username. Since I loved his story so much, I decided to send him a message and tell him so.

monkeylover14: Hi! I just wanted to tell you that I read your story "Black and White" and I really liked it! You're an awesome writer and although your bio doesn't reveal much, you sound like a cool guy so I thought I'd send you a message :) (hopefully that didn't come off to creepy, I promise I'm not completely crazy)

I immediately regretted sending the message. I mean, I sounded like a complete weirdo. Well, I am a complete weirdo but I didn't want him to know that.

About ten minutes later I received a reply from him.

tanbball: lol don't worry, I don't think it's creepy. in fact, I'm kind of flattered. :) not many people take the time to tell me they like what I write so I appreciate that you did. and don't worry, I'm kinda crazy myself ;)

After that, we began talking every day practically. We did that for about seven months before we finally were comfortable enough to exchange numbers. Once we did that, we were constantly texting each other. He quickly became my best friend, since I didn't really have any friends at school. I told him everything and he was always incredibly kind and caring; it's one of the reasons I began to develop a crush on him. Some might find it stupid to like someone you've never even met, but he was just such an amazing guy.

We continued texting and talking for months, but we both decided that we wanted more than just texting. So, a year after we first started talking, we had our first skype call.

"Well this is weird," I commented the moment I saw his face. He let out a chuckle that my sixteen year old self found incredibly attractive. He himself looked incredibly attractive, with sandy blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. I never understood how girls could consider some guys to be 'godly' until I saw Tanner through that screen. This sure isn't going to help my crush on him.

"Why is it weird?" he asked.

"To be honest, I was expecting you to be a little nerdy kid, but you're hot. Like, really hot. Are your parents Aphrodite and Adonis or something?" I immediately felt my face flush once I realized what I was saying. Groaning, I covered my face in embarrassment. "Please forget I ever said that."

"Aw come on, I wanna hear more about how hot I am," he joked, a smirk on his beautiful face. God, when did I become such a dork?

"I think I would've liked the nerdy kid better," I grumbled, causing Tanner to snort.