I think it was mid April or early May of 2014 when I first met heart.

At the time, I was at the lowest point in my life. I was in my freshman year of high school. It was a school that people who graduated from my junior high didn't attend under normal circumstances. I was living with my father and stepmom most days of the week -- only seeing my mother on the weekends. The two had managed to convince me that living with them would ultimately be better for my life -- I was promised I would be happier and more successful.

It wasn't what it was cracked up to be, at all. Despite great grades -- averaging a 3.8 GPA -- they weren't happy. I could always do better, I could always have higher grades, why didn't you ask your teacher to make up that test so you could correct that B+ to an A?

I began to adopt that mindset. I was a piece of shit, wasn't I? I could always do better. I felt guilty for feeling sad inside. I had so much going for me -- I just needed to study for a few more hours! Maybe go in for some tutoring with my math teacher so I can ace this upcoming test again.

But still, I was sad inside. I didn't know why.

I had two escapes at the time -- Team Fortress 2 and a playthrough of the visual novel Katawa Shoujo.

My father and stepmom weren't fond of video games -- in fact, they hated them! I was only allowed to play them on the weekend at my much more lax mother's house -- who I was convinced out to ruin my person and make me worthless. I played a lot of Team Fortress 2 whenever I could -- competitively. I played Medic in the 6v6 gamemode and always loved substituting in for teams so I felt like I belonged somewhere.

The other escape I had was something so silly that, to this day, I can't believe I think so fondly of it. Every day, when doing my homework, I snuck my phone into my room and watched an episode of Millbee's playthrough of the visual novel Katawa Shoujo. The entire premise of me using it as an escape sounds silly, but it made me happy to hear the guy's voice crudely trying to mimic a blind blonde girl with his personal commentary spliced in. Looking back, it's not as enjoyable to watch as I remembered.

So, you're probably wondering, "etoh, why the hell do we care about picture books about handicapped anime girls?"

These two things opened up the doors for me to meet the most influential person I've ever met, and also and my best friend, Heart.

One lonely Saturday night I decided to play a pick-up competitive Team Fortress 2 game with some people in the small homely community I once proudly called myself one of. I was matched against this one player who made a name for himself as a completely silly, and insanely talented, Soldier main who was very proficient at a gimmick weapon called the Market Gardener. The weapon basically did lethal damage if you managed to smack someone close range with it while rocket jumping -- something much easier said then done, trust me.

Hearing about this player, I decided to exchange a little bit of banter with him before the game started.

> "I bet I'll dodge all your Market Gardens, man."
>
> "Hahahaha. If you say so."

The guy then proceeded to completely shitstomp on everyone in the server -- especially me -- with that stupid weapon. We ended up losing 5-0 in something like ten minutes.

I was astounded that he was actually living up the hype that everyone mentioned! I talked to him after the game a little and complimented him on his skills. Someone else in the server, overhearing our discussion, said something jokingly about him being a weeaboo, and to watch out.

Curious about what that guy meant, I added the player on Steam and we quickly ended up on the topic of Katawa Shoujo. He, to put it simply, thought the novel was good, but not great. I asked him to explain his reasoning, and I was surprised to hear it was very concise and logical. We ended up talking about the novel for something like an hour before we both had to depart, since it was getting late where we both lived. I was surprised to hear he lived in California! I was only one state away, in Arizona.

That player was named "Heart."

We hit it off really hard after that. We talked nearly every day about the everyday moments in our life. I loved hearing about his silly adventures in life, along with all his super cool hobbies he had. He was insanely cool -- he could solve a Rubik's cube blindfolded with one hand, he could juggle, he self-learned the basic parts of Japanese, he was super good at Team Fortress 2, and also a really good player at this one game called "osu!" Remember that name for later, it's important.

Eventually, we landed on the landmine that was my mental state living at my father and stepmom's. I explained my entire situation to him and, to put it short, he supported me 100% and said that THEY were in the wrong.

That struck me off guard. I have been told at this point for months that it was ME that was wrong and not good at things.

That moment stands out to me as the moment that made him become my best friend. Heart was someone that I barely knew that was not afraid to state his view on things, but also insanely dedicated and supportive.

To make a long story short, Heart gave me the mental support that I needed to get past my many problems that plagued me at the time. Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts -- you name it, I might have had it. He gave me the support I needed to stand up to my father and demand that I wanted to live with my mother again, where I may or may not be as successful, but a hell of a lot more happy.

That's not to say Heart didn't have a variety of his own problems to deal with on his own. Heart is only a year older then me. Together, we talked through his problems as well. I felt like I held the power of a loofah every time I talked to him, but I still wanted to help him.

But, we both made it.  Today, now 17 years old, I live at my mother's house for the majority of my time, only having to do my time every other weekend.

---

The second part of this story barely involves me, but rather Heart.

It started on June 10, 2014. Heart, living up to his nickname of weeaboo, was tending to his Tumblr blog, which housed tons of pictures of adorable anime girls, as well as a fair share of random silly things and the occasional personal text post. Late that night, Heart went to go check his inbox, as it seems he received an anonymous "ask."

This ask was different, though. More peculiar then your average "what is your favorite color and why?" ask.

It was a confession of love.

I think I remember it saying something among the lines of, "Hey HJ! I really like your posts and I'm really into you."

Although I'm sure the anonymous user said it more eloquently that I ever could, you guys get the hint. Heart, as you'd imagine, was extremely surprised. The two exchanged messages back and forth for a while. The anonymous user, living up to the title, never revealed their name that night. Heart was left with one important message before the user decided to go to bed.

["Maybe one day, HJ!"](https://67.media.tumblr.com/a9e75cb23eda215b3fff00a85049f102/tumblr_inline_nld70lEySs1s3jdkr_500.png)

I, unfortunately, was probably asleep for this entire ordeal. The next day, Heart told me about everything. We both shared an extreme sense of excitement. After a few days, though, Heart returned to normal again.

One night a few days later, Heart was playing the game I mentioned earlier -- osu!

He got added by this random person that said they were a fan of his Tumblr account. The two started playing together while chatting in-game between songs. Their chats, like with me, started casually, but slowly began to delve into more personal matters as the days went by. To this day, I have no clue about what they talked about, nor am I even sure if I want to. Their business is their business.

Even after weeks, the two still talked regularly. One day, August 25th of 2014 to be exact, Heart brought up the peculiar "ask" that he got on his Tumblr account.

> "Wow, that's weird. I wonder who that was?"
> "Anyway, it's getting late for me here. I'm going to go to sleep."
> "Goodnight, HJ!"

At this moment, every bird in the world stopped chirping. Children around the world stopped playing. Somewhere, a coffee mug sits at a man's lips, unsipped.

Heart immediately messaged me frantically.

> "ETOH"
> "HOLY SHIT"
> "I THINK I FOUND OUT WHO THAT ANON IS"

Heart guessed correctly. That person who added him on osu! was indeed the same person crushing on him in an anonymous ask.

Her name is Tokiiko. To be honest, I don't know too much about her. All I know is that she's tiny and lives in Virginia.

The two proved to be immediately compatible to the point where I was jealous. The two had and still have some of the most unrivaled natural chemistry I have ever seen. They play off of each other like every moment is scripted, they both have fantastic senses of humor, and both most definitely loved each other.

The next few months were very quiet, for the most part. Heart was still my only dear friend, but I didn't want to disturb him from his relationship with Tokiiko. I don't know the full extent of what the two did together in these forming months of the relationship. What I mainly know is that the two shared one of the most touching long-distance relationships I have ever seen. Consistent eight-hour Skype calls, playing online games with each other... who even knows what else? The two were so deeply in love it was almost criminal.

Finally, we get to the meet-up.

The two first met in real life on March 18th, 2015. Around this time before the visit, the majority of conversations I had with Heart were related to his excitement that he had to meet Tokiiko. Heart kept his hard-working mentality that I idolized and worked tons of jobs so he could afford the money to buy a plane ticket to meet her. The other conversations we had were mainly centered around how much he hated the distance between the two.

I thought I would get tired of hearing about the two, but I honestly never did. That amount of uncontested love made me happy, even as the third-party spectator in this wonderfully orchestrated romance that is their lives.

As soon as Heart had the cash, he bought the plane ticket. The original plan was for her to stay for three weeks before she returned home to Virginia. Because of personal reasons that I don't feel I should share without permission, I'll just simply say that things ended up working out for the better. Heart ended up spending five fantastic weeks with her.

I also never really learned the extent of how much those two did when they visited each other. I'm sure you can use your imagination -- after all, this is a subreddit for long distance relationships -- what would you do?

However, two silly moments stand out to me that shows just how perfect they are for each other.

These two dumbasses accidentally dropped a burger that they bought into the sink. They then proceeded to laugh their asses off. Heart took a picture of it and set it as his profile icon. [I'm not joking. Here's a picture.](https://i.imgur.com/sUNVFCY.png)

The second is even stupider. The two were in the romantic mood and decided to take a bath together. However, there was a problem -- they had no bath plug! Luckily, Tokiiko came to the rescue and offered to use a nail polish container to act as a bath plug. It worked, which was great. But, it worked too well. It ended up getting stuck in the hole. They ended up having to take a hammer to the container. As you can imagine, after that, Tokiiko didn't have any more nail polish.

The goodbye between the two went just about as you guys probably expected -- lots of tears, according to Heart. It was another painful wait for the two before they got to visit again. Although, Heart also said the wait for the second visit isn't as painful as the first, which kind of struck me as odd. However, in the months before they visited again, things went back to normal. The two still had regular marathon Skype calls whenever possible while I watched from the sidelines, doing my damnedest to cheer them on.

The two visited once again in August of 2015 for their anniversary. I actually know even less about this second trip then the first one.

Any finally, they visited one more time on the 21st of May of 2016. Like the second trip, I don't know anything about what went down. All I know is that something happened that changed their lives, and mine, to a lesser extent.

They both mutually agreed to move in with each other. Heart, my friend who was always known to me as "the man only one state apart," was going to move to Virginia.

And, finally, this is when all of our stories connect.

Where I closed the distance between me and my best friend, who guided me through some of the toughest parts of my life.

Where I helped him through the toughest parts of his as best as I could.

Where I learned more about the beast of a guy that was Heart. Since we became friends, he had learned two languages, translated a then-unknown manga called New Game! all on his own, picked up the bass, became proficient and got his fair share of cuts learning to use a butterfly knife, learned to drive, became a literal god at a MMO called TERA Online, and probably so many other things that I can't even remember!

Heart officially started moving on July 5th, 2016.

We officially met in real life on July 6th, 2016. We spent an entire day messing around my boring suburban city. We went to a bunch of random stores at the mall, we ate some really mediocre burgers, played co-op Team Fortress 2, and blasted music on a really shitty speaker we found on discount at Best Buy. I also cooked some eggs for him -- but we don't talk about that because they came out really shitty.

The next morning, Heart was set to leave at the crack of dawn. We woke up at about 4:30 AM. I proceeded to help him pack his things and make his way to his car, where he was facing a 2,000 mile journey to make his way to Virginia.

The silence at this time of the morning was extremely calming. In a place as hot as Arizona, the wind was welcome, as well. After we finished our packing, we both hugged and said our goodbyes. I ended up seeing him off before it even hit 5:00 AM. He made it to his destination within three days.

Today, Heart is living with some roommates he found on craigslist, seeing Tokiiko every day. They're still madly in love.

In fact, he actually unofficially proposed to her recently. He's looking to get a ring to make it official.

With that, my story is over. For all of you currently in a long-distance relationship -- don't give up. Although I myself am not in one (yet!?), I have full confidence that you will all persevere.

Thanks for everything, Heart. I don't think I would be here without you.