Hello all! Thought this would be the best location to pin this discussion and have it as a hub for others so here goes: Is there anyone else here that is in a long distance relationship? Whether it be out of state, cross country, or another continent? Have you met in person or have you yet to meet? How did you first get to know each other? How long have you been together?
So my story to start. When I was sixteen I was in a existing relationship with a guy for about two years, at the time our relationship was starting to become unsteady and we'd argue quite a bit. I was in a mild depression and turned to writing fanfiction as a way to cope. One day I was scrolling through the newly updated section of the site and a summary of a fic of my favorite series caught my eye.
A little thing about the newly updated section: it updates every 10 or so minutes (a rough estimate) and I rarely poked my head in that section. Had I not looked through it that day and time I'd have never come across it.
Anyways, as I said the summary caught my eye, I read through it, liked the concept, and gave the story a short little review and went on my way. A short time later I received a private message in my inbox. It was the author of the fic thanking me for my review, he also said he had read some of my fics in return and enjoyed them. After a bit of confused surprise (I never expected anyone to thank me for a review) I answered back, became a beta reader for his stories, and that got the ball rolling into a extended conversation with the other user that went on for several months. We talked about our likes, dislikes, beliefs, interests, hobbies, on and on. At the time we didn't know the other's name, we just referred to the other as our usernames or, jokingly, 'aibou' (partner in Japanese). Eventually those conversations moved to email where we had far more space for messaging and the addage of sending pictures!
After about... 4-5 months of knowing each other we finally exchanged names and approximate locations. He was Mackenzie from Ontario, Canada and I was Amanda from California, United States. We talked about how life was in our respective countries of origin. I asked him if he really did have an accent, he asked if really was sunny all the time, joking teasing things like that. Wasn't long that I developed a quiet crush on him and preferred talking with him than my real boyfriend who hadn't bothered visiting me (he lived about an hour away from me as he had moved from our hometown a half a year before) since before the beginning of that school year.
And then one day my boyfriend broke up with me. Over the phone. Through a text. Naturally I was angry and upset that after two years he would blow me off so casually. Even worse he had been even more distant with me the following two weeks and I had noticed he had been interacting more and more with a girl from his new school. I know that's low as I had been doing the same but at the very least I had been trying to get him to come down to visit, I had asked him to prom, to see the last Harry Potter movie because it meant so much to me and I really wanted to see him again and have some kind of mutual interaction again but he brushed both invitations off and then later dropped me like a stone. He ended up going to prom with that same girl. I was boiling angry and depressed and refused to go to class for the rest of that day. I texted him: "It's incredibly sad that a guy in another country cares more for me than you do."
And he did, he honestly did. He comforted me the best he could, made sure I ate, made sure I continued interacting with my friends, talked to me constantly to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. A few months after this I told him that I liked him, he confessed to me that he liked me to but didn't act on anything further because he knew I had a boyfriend already and didn't want to butt in between that. So the day after, with tons of hesitation and worry, we established a relationship. At least I was the one with the worry. My parents are in a word, overprotective. I knew they would in no way approve and I was terrified that they would find out and force me to break up with him, and ensure that I never spoke with him again. Mackenzie on the other hand began on gathering money to pay for his plane ticket to go see me in person and pressing me to tell my parents so it wouldn't be so much of a surprise when he earned enough to visit.
After about a couple months I relented. Of course my parents weren't pleased. They demanded to know what on earth was I thinking, ranted and raved about people faking their identities on the internet and so on. I somehow was able to calm them down by asking Mackenzie if his parents could speak with mine, not sure how it worked but it did.
He did end up visiting me for my 18th birthday. We took him to Disneyland, which he enjoyed. I gave him his first kiss. We were so incredibly happy to see each other for the first time.
So three years later and three visits later we're still together. I'm twenty going on twenty one and he's a solid twenty one. On the 31st he'll be out here for visit number four and I really can't wait!
So my story to start. When I was sixteen I was in a existing relationship with a guy for about two years, at the time our relationship was starting to become unsteady and we'd argue quite a bit. I was in a mild depression and turned to writing fanfiction as a way to cope. One day I was scrolling through the newly updated section of the site and a summary of a fic of my favorite series caught my eye.
A little thing about the newly updated section: it updates every 10 or so minutes (a rough estimate) and I rarely poked my head in that section. Had I not looked through it that day and time I'd have never come across it.
Anyways, as I said the summary caught my eye, I read through it, liked the concept, and gave the story a short little review and went on my way. A short time later I received a private message in my inbox. It was the author of the fic thanking me for my review, he also said he had read some of my fics in return and enjoyed them. After a bit of confused surprise (I never expected anyone to thank me for a review) I answered back, became a beta reader for his stories, and that got the ball rolling into a extended conversation with the other user that went on for several months. We talked about our likes, dislikes, beliefs, interests, hobbies, on and on. At the time we didn't know the other's name, we just referred to the other as our usernames or, jokingly, 'aibou' (partner in Japanese). Eventually those conversations moved to email where we had far more space for messaging and the addage of sending pictures!
After about... 4-5 months of knowing each other we finally exchanged names and approximate locations. He was Mackenzie from Ontario, Canada and I was Amanda from California, United States. We talked about how life was in our respective countries of origin. I asked him if he really did have an accent, he asked if really was sunny all the time, joking teasing things like that. Wasn't long that I developed a quiet crush on him and preferred talking with him than my real boyfriend who hadn't bothered visiting me (he lived about an hour away from me as he had moved from our hometown a half a year before) since before the beginning of that school year.
And then one day my boyfriend broke up with me. Over the phone. Through a text. Naturally I was angry and upset that after two years he would blow me off so casually. Even worse he had been even more distant with me the following two weeks and I had noticed he had been interacting more and more with a girl from his new school. I know that's low as I had been doing the same but at the very least I had been trying to get him to come down to visit, I had asked him to prom, to see the last Harry Potter movie because it meant so much to me and I really wanted to see him again and have some kind of mutual interaction again but he brushed both invitations off and then later dropped me like a stone. He ended up going to prom with that same girl. I was boiling angry and depressed and refused to go to class for the rest of that day. I texted him: "It's incredibly sad that a guy in another country cares more for me than you do."
And he did, he honestly did. He comforted me the best he could, made sure I ate, made sure I continued interacting with my friends, talked to me constantly to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. A few months after this I told him that I liked him, he confessed to me that he liked me to but didn't act on anything further because he knew I had a boyfriend already and didn't want to butt in between that. So the day after, with tons of hesitation and worry, we established a relationship. At least I was the one with the worry. My parents are in a word, overprotective. I knew they would in no way approve and I was terrified that they would find out and force me to break up with him, and ensure that I never spoke with him again. Mackenzie on the other hand began on gathering money to pay for his plane ticket to go see me in person and pressing me to tell my parents so it wouldn't be so much of a surprise when he earned enough to visit.
After about a couple months I relented. Of course my parents weren't pleased. They demanded to know what on earth was I thinking, ranted and raved about people faking their identities on the internet and so on. I somehow was able to calm them down by asking Mackenzie if his parents could speak with mine, not sure how it worked but it did.
He did end up visiting me for my 18th birthday. We took him to Disneyland, which he enjoyed. I gave him his first kiss. We were so incredibly happy to see each other for the first time.
So three years later and three visits later we're still together. I'm twenty going on twenty one and he's a solid twenty one. On the 31st he'll be out here for visit number four and I really can't wait!
