THE STORY OF US

Hi lovelies! It's not too often I do a super personal and lifey post such as this one, but it's been a rather busy and slightly stressful time lately, nothing major, just lots of little things all being thrown at me at once and getting on top of me and I find it's times like this you need the ones you love the most. It helps to step back from life for a moment and appreciate one of the most precious things you'll ever have, love. As cheesy as that may sound, it's so true. Without love (life is like the seasons with no summer! yay hairspray), I think life would be rather sad. Not just relationship love of course, but love from your family and friends also. In this post though, I will be talking about relationship love. Darren has appeared in many a blog post and my more regular readers will probably be pretty familiar with his face right now, but none of you really know the full story. I wasn't sure whether or not to actually post this, but I thought sod it, if a total stranger on the internet posted the story of their relationship, I would read and love every second of it, because it's human nature to be a little bit nosey, and girl nature to be a little bit romantic.

Darren and I met in college, I was doing Art & Design, he was doing Music. We met through a friend and because our courses were in the same building and we had some friends in common, we started to see each other more often as 'just friends'. When we met, I had a boyfriend and I'm fairly sure Darren had a girlfriend too, so it didn't even cross my mind that something would ever happen between us, but there was always something about him, I didn't know what, but there was. My relationship with Mr X (which is what we'll call him, as names are not necessary!) wasn't so hot when me and Darren became closer friends. It was okay, nothing terrible, but I didn't feel the same anymore. Being young(er) and probably a bit naive, I thought that was just what happened with relationships. Before Mr X, I hadn't had a serious relationship and figured that after a while, the honeymoon period ends and then it's just all a bit blahh. Which is probably why my relationship with Darren started the way it did.

Darren and I were best friends by late summer 2011 and a few flirty jokes aside, it had never been any more than that and I thought it never would be. We both admit now, we'd wonder what it'd be like to say bye bye to our exes and try 'us' out, but it seemed like a pipe dream. In my mind, things like that didn't happen in real life, at least not to me. But then one evening after college in October 2011, we met up. I needed to think things over and Darren was the perfect person to talk to. Or end up kissing next to an old people bowls match ground. Oops. I was still with Mr X and Darren was still with someone too but it just happened. I hate now to think it could've hurt anybody and cheating was not my intention, but it was kind of like a movie. Pour your heart out to 'the best friend', then whoops! The kiss we'd all been waiting for. It just felt really right, like it'd been a long time coming. He smiled the whole time too, which was super adorable. (I promptly broke things off with Mr X, don't worry!). I do not condone this kind of behavior at all, but what I want to get out there is that sometimes, these things do happen and it doesn't always mean you're a bad person for it.

When he asked me to be his girlfriend, Darren was thrown into the world of a shopaholic beauty blogger with an ever-changing mind about the future and a big crazy family with a Mum who wanted to be (and may actually now be) his best friend and amazingly, he took it all in his stride. Helping me with everything from outfit photos to finally deciding on a career I adore. Darren was the one who helped me start up Chloe's Way, he was the one who encouraged me to study Beauty Therapy, he's the one who helps my Mum with the shopping, gets on amazingly with my best friends and my sister, comes to every single family occasion with me, listens to my Grandad's endless rambles about Xbox games (no, really) and so much more.

Between then and now, we've gone through a lot together. Mostly good times, some not so much, but all part of a journey and I wouldn't change one minute. We were kind of against all odds in some ways. There were people who certainly didn't want us to work out, but there were others, my best friends and family who knew we would. We really were and still are absolutely crazy about each other and nothing and no one could change that. Darren has made me realise that that spark in a relationship isn't something that fades after a while, when you're with the right one, its there to stay and it just gets better and better. You learn more about each other and yourself all the time. Darren has taught me to be brave and to take risks, from that first kiss I began thinking 'what's the worst that could happen?' about absolutely everything I wanted to do, and if the answer wasn't 'you could die', I'd go for it! And I'd like to think I've taught Darren self worth. He's one of the most ambitious people I know and during our relationship, his aspirations and goals have soared, he works so hard at what he does and I just know that one day he'll be super successful in whatever it is he wants to do. I've also taught him the difference between warm toned and cool toned red liptick, and that using bar soap on your face is always, always a terrible idea. Silly boy.

It's lovely when people tell me they want a relationship like mine, but it's good to remember that even those who seem so perfect together do have their flaws. Small and not so small. Darren is awful at loading the dishwasher (god help us when we get a place of our own) and I'll cry at tiny things sometimes. We argue, we disagree, but we don't sleep on it, or leave each other upset or mad, nothing is ever worth going to bed upset.. As soon as you're apart, that's when you're going to regret a silly argument. One day at work will feel like a week if you're feeling bad about something you said. Sorry and a cuddle are all it takes most of the time. Our arguments are more often that not super silly when one of us overreacts because we've had a crap day or are feeling stressed. We're still learning, but we know how to handle each other much better now. I know if Darren's had a bad day, I'll make him a cup of tea and give him something yummy and he'll be all good in no time and he knows that playing with my hair and cuddles will always win me over. People often comment that we look like the perfect couple and maybe, from the outside we do. But hopefully, through reading 'the story of us', you'll realise that even the couples that appear the most perfect may not have a fairytale beginning, and every day may not be glass slippers and singing woodland animals, but at least we have a happily ever after.

I hope you enjoyed this more personal post! Definitely let me know what you thought in the comments as I'd love to know!

P.S. Darren is @dazchappers_ and @dazchappers on instagram, if you enjoy ranty tweets and photos of food, he's your man.