Abby and William had gone to the same highschool and seen each other around the school. They were also in many of the same classes throughout the years but never really talked to each other. Abby knew that William was a nice person since she'd always see him helping his friends with work and he always helped his teachers when he could. She also knew that he took care of his sisters, and thought his was an amazing guy for doing all those things without complaining. Abby knew that William treasured his sisters and wouldn't leave them for anything, so she was surprised when she saw him at her university, trying to find a class. They were both new to the school so she thought she would go talk to him, since at least they knew each other from highschool. She walked up to him and called his name. When he turned around he seemed to recognize her immediately and seemed relieved to see her. While talking to him she found out that he had come to this school to become a social worker, but their dorms were near each other. This was good because this means that they could hang out when they didn't have classes.
Abby and William hung out a lot. They made many other friends but they were drawn to each other and very quickly they learnt that they had a lot in common. They shared interests in books and tv shows. They enjoyed going out, like to the movies. They did everything together from just sitting in the library doing work to stay up late to watch movies or just talking. They talked about their families and their hardships, and where they want to be in the future. Slowly Abby realized that she had feelings for William. She had a couple different partners in her life but none of them felt like this one. One of them was too obsessive and wouldn't let her anything and another seemed like he didn't really care, but William seemed perfect. He gave the space she needed when she needed it but also asked her how she was doing and made sure to check up on her. This is an example of the Ideal Mate Theory, which is when individuals have an unconscious image of their "ideal mate" and look for those characteristics in a person. Abby wanted someone who cared but gave her the space she needed and William seemed to be able to do that.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
After a year of hanging out, William asked Abby if she liked him. Apparently his friends were suspicious of them, since they always hung out and seemed really close, and it made him realize he had feelings for her too and he wanted to confront her about it. This took Abby by surprise because she didn't know whether or not William liked her that way or not, but she was overjoyed that he did. She said that she did and William said that he did too. So they ended up in a relationship that would last forever. Abby like, 50% of people, looked for honesty in her partners and the other 2 would lie to her about the little things, so she was worried about whether they would lie about bigger issues. Thankfully for Abby, William didn't seem like the type of person to lie and she was grateful she could trust him.
This also is how Bernard Murstein's Theory describes mate selection. He states that individuals pass their significant others through filters to screen out the unacceptable ones, which is what Abby did. Each of her previous partners went through her mental filters and did not pass, whereas William went through her filters and passed through most of them at this point in her life. After university, since they both decided to move back in with their parents, they'd still be close to each other as they both went to the same school and therefore lived in the same area. With every year that passed they grew closer to each other and decided they couldn't live without each other. They introduced each other to their families and their families accepted them with open arms. They were all very kind to each other and looked after one another as if they were one big family. And yes they fought, like every couple does, but they were able to get through each fight they had and come up with an agreement to solve their problem.
