1. The first time one of you gives a gift to the other that you actually made or put together yourselves, rather than something you bought.

2. When you cry in front of them for the first time and you actually feel better afterwards, rather than embarrassed or awkward.

3. The first time one of you talks about an event (happening way down the road) with a carefree and comfortable certainty that you’ll still be together.

4. The first time you laugh so hard together that you actually cry.

5. The first time you text them without having to spend ten minutes overthinking what you’re going to say.

6. When you feel like your friends have actually become their friends too, and vice versa.

7. The first time you hang out with them all day and do absolutely nothing.

8. And then decide later that it was one of the best days you’ve had in a long time.

9. When you start becoming interested in what they’re interested in, simply because what matters to them matters to you.

10. The first time you spend time around their family without feeling super nervous.

11. The first time you receive a wedding invitation addressed to both of you and you get weirdly excited.

12. And you save the envelope because you can’t help yourself.

13. The moment you’re picturing something in your distant future and you realize your brain has instinctively placed them there too.

14. When the first show you bingewatch together starts to make you feel oddly sentimental, even if it’s the goriest thing ever.

15. When you become experts in making each other smile via text message, sometimes with only a couple of words.

16. The first time you realize how lovely their voice sounds to you and how much you love hearing it.

17. When their good news starts to feel like your good news too.

18. And the first time you automatically call them before you call anyone else when you have big news to share.

19. When you share your first “I’ve never told anyone this” kind of secret.

20. The moment you realize you cherish each other’s opinions and advice more than anyone else’s in your life.

21. The first time you don’t get ‘ready’ to hang out them and you still feel totally comfortable in your own skin.

22. The first time you take a nap together, and you realize that naps somehow get even better when someone you like is sleeping beside you.

23. The first time you make a choice that’s inconvenient for you, but you have no hesitation about it, because this is your person now and you wouldn’t have it any other way.