The Marriage Before the Love Story

Chapter 1: Lovely

The first proposal happened beneath a flickering fluorescent light in the university housing office.

There was no ring. No nervous speech. No candlelit dinner waiting afterward.

There was only a tired administrator sitting behind a gray desk, tapping a printed policy with one carefully trimmed fingernail.

“Off-campus housing is limited to graduate students, students over twenty-three, and married couples.”

Alix stared at the page as if another option might appear between the lines.

Across from her, Ben leaned back in his plastic chair and whispered, “Well, that seems reasonable and not at all designed to ruin our lives.”

The administrator looked up.

“Was there something else?”

“No,” Alix said quickly. “Thank you for explaining.”

Outside, cold rain glazed the brick pathways. Students hurried between buildings with backpacks held over their heads. Alix and Ben stood beneath the narrow shelter above the office door, watching water collect in the cracks of the pavement.