MakingtheBand

Nate and Lauren meet at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Discovering their shared love of old books, caffeinated beverages, and British comedy, they become fast friends. Nate is impressed that Lauren also smokes pipes. She’s cute, too. He's studying Music Business to become... something? She's studying English, for similar reasons. They notice themselves laughing at each other's jokes almost as much as their own.

By this point, Lauren and Nate have attended a few parties and shows together, so he decides to take things up a notch by inviting her out to the local tobacco shop. (Romance!) Post-pipes & coffee in the park, Nate learns the meaning of "Friend Zone" firsthand after finding out Lauren already has a boyfriend and did not in fact consider pipes in the park as constituting a romantic date. Which, fair.

Around this time, Lauren convinces Nate to become an English major, single-handedly saving him from dropping out of school from boredom. After he makes the hard decision to move back to Houston to pursue a creative writing degree (for the earning potential, of course), she plans a "We Hate Texas" going away party in his honor. Nate says he can’t sign off on the theme for fear of reprisals at home, but gladly joins. The moment is bittersweet.

Feeling some FOMO back home, Nate visits friends in Nashville. Sadly, Lauren's studying abroad in Scotland. Nate is noticeably bummed. And yet, even while she's gallivanting from bonnie banks to castle-studded summits, not to mention a few well-worn pubs, Lauren still finds time to send him a postcard of a beaming collie surrounded by single malt Scotch whisky. “You'd love this place!”, she writes. Time passes. The postcard remains.

Lauren and Nate don’t see each other at all during this year, but by December a newly single Lauren is feeling somewhat ready to mingle. And by mingle, we mean text Nate for advice on which Ernest Hemingway novel to start with. Now to a writing major like Nate, this is only slightly less hot than receiving a Scotch-and-collie postcard. They send a few texts back-and-forth before he suggests a phone call to catch up. Also, “The Sun Also Rises.”

In a twist of fate, Lauren makes the exciting decision to move to New York in February. But first she calls Nate for a quick chat. They talk for hours, during which Lauren reveals that she’s single. Nate tries feebly to hide his excitement, deciding right away to “lock it down.” Texting becomes a daily affair, with at least weekly phone calls lasting late into the night. They start giving each other writing feedback, each massively relieved that the other doesn't suck.

Nate drives twelve hours to Nashville for a wedding that, conveniently, Lauren also plans to attend. Eschewing subtlety in favor of a somewhat more direct approach, Lauren hollers “SPELL” when she spots him at the church. Nate plays it cool by simply blushing and waving awkwardly. Later that night they kiss outside of Santa’s Pub. Turns out, they like like each other. Shocker. "You should come to New York," she says. A few short weeks later, he's on a plane.

After landing in the Big Apple, Nate is whisked away to Lauren's favorite liquor store for a bottle of Rock and Rye to sip at her apartment. Smitten by girl and city alike, he woos her with bodega daisies, Two Buck Chuck, late night stoop jazz, Joe's pizza, oysters in the Village, Audrey Hepburn movies, and cheese. He asks to make it Facebook official. She says she's not on Facebook, but duh. The tearful subway station goodbye comes much too soon.

The long-distance relationship continues, this time with Lauren touching down in Houston. He takes her out for $2 margs and the best tacos she's ever had. She meets his family, samples Monique’s chicken-and-sausage gumbo, and is forced to admit that she might actually like olives after all. The family loves her. The feeling is mutual. She notes the wood-fired pizza oven in the back yard. Another tearful goodbye and she's on a plane back to NYC.

Nate re-meets Lauren’s family in Nashville, this time as her boyfriend. Quite an upgrade from “that one Bongo Java patio-dwelling, pipe-smoking friend from Belmont.” Her sister asks if they are in love, to which they give a unanimous “You betcha.” He meets Mama Judy, who serves him his first hot fudge cake. While the whole long-distance thing is starting to wear on them, they can never seem to get enough time together and start to wonder what's next.

After two long years of back-and-forth long-distance trips, these two are barely scraping by—and they have the credit card statements to prove it. With the publishing industry on the ropes (thanks, Internet), Lauren begins to think she might find greener pastures in a city with literal pastures. And so, in yet another difficult but decisive moment, she decides to uproot her life in New York to move in with Nate in Houston. The things we do for love. Okay, and tacos.

Not much happened the next few years. Just a 500-year flood, three apartments, one house, countless career ups and downs, a global pandemic, a tiki deep-dive, a baking obsession, a mystery novel renaissance, Gram Parsons roadtrips, and an endless trail of barbacoa tacos, simmering gumbos, briny olives, stinky cheeses, and never enough raw oysters—not to mention copious Netflix binges, daily walks, and, when in doubt, more tacos. It's a good life.

Nate plans a romantic anniversary trip to the Hill Country outside of Austin. The first night they watch Lauren’s favorite movie, “No Country for Old Men." Peak. Romance. In the morning, they eat chocolate croissants before driving to Jacob’s Well, talking about the old days while listening to Laura Marling's “I Was An Eagle.” He suggests a hike that ends in an overlook complete with gazebo. She looks at him and knows the question. He asks anyway. It's an easy yes.