My best friend is marrying a guy after knowing him for 6 months
The love story began when my best friend, Chloe (20F), met Ethan (18M). (Not their real names ofc). I've known Chloe since high school and we've been friends since she and I randomly started talking in PE. We both attended the same Community College and that's where she met a new friend, we'll call her Nora (21F). Nora invited Chloe to her sibling's orchestra performance in May 2025. Her family is homeschooled until college and they all have to learn an instrument. One sibling that played was Ethan. She talked him a little after the performance and noted he was cute, but the interaction wasn't very long. During the late Summer-early Fall, they both attended a local bible study, one that my boyfriend and I also went to. That's where I originally met Ethan. He is sweet, gentle, and go-with-the-flow. For about four months the two would wait for the weekly bible studies to see each other and they would talk in the parking lot long after midnight. In Fall, it became painfully obvious they liked each other. Chloe talked about her crush on Ethan nonstop and she lit up everytime he was around. However, in January, right as they were on the verge of offcially dating, Ethan dropped a bomb. Ethan comes from a deeply traditional household with seven children, where they were all homeschooled until college. His father, who spent his teen years partying hard and sleeping around before he became Christian, had swung to the complete opposite extreme to protect his children.
When Ethan's mother realized Ethan was staying late into the Bible Study to talk to Chloe, she tried to forbid him from going. Ethan's siblings would basically keep an eye on him and Chloe when they were at the Bible Study and make sure he was following family rules. The family has very strict rules on relationship. They demand that the couples "court", like in the olden days. The couple is expected to never be alone together. Essentially, Ethan was expected to act like a total fly on the wall to Chloe, avoiding direct interaction until he was ready to propose marrige. (How are you supposed to know if you want to marry someone if you don't get to know them..? ) Ethan's mother is not any more stable. She was so intense and afraid of change, that she actually deleted Chloe's name off of Ethan's phone because she was afraid of how close their friendship got.
The dynamic between Ethan and Chloe was intense before they even dated. In December, Ethan memorized Chloe's address and drove 90 min in the dead of night just to pass by her house, and FILMED IT. I saw the video.
At Christmas, Ethan showered Chloe with expensive gift before they were dating or courting. His sister, Nora, even told him it was excessive and he shouldn't lead Chloe on. She outwardly opposed the two datin, perhaps out of jealousy. Her and her parents' displeasure led to a bad example for their other children. The 15 year old son threw a tantrum because Ethan hugged Chloe in front of him. All the siblings are almost afraid to show any affection and were taught that you only touch if your married. The 15 year old was so mad about Ethan breaking that rule, that he drove his ATV in front of Ethan's vehicle's driver's seat, making him late for work.
Instead of walking away, Chloe and Ethan decided to make it through, and started courting in late Febuary. I don't remember how it began, but Chloe and Ethan and their fathers started having meetings. They all tried to talk sense into Ethan's dad and let the two court. He relented and let them meet up on Sundays. They all met up multiple times later to try and get the dad to let them date. It didn't last long though, They started dating in March, much to his family's horror. Despite the pushback, they made a great couple, Chloe is passionate, impulsive, pushy, and bubbly. Ethan's quiet and gentle nature was a great compliment and they were very happy. Ethan's family did not see this, they actually sat their 18 year old son down and berated him for not following the rules. then they proceeded to ice him out.
Literally one week after they officially started dating in March, Chloe dropped a bomb on me and my mom. She casually announced that she and Ethan had already seriously discussed getting married in 2026 September. My mom and I immediately proteste. We told her that September was incredibly fast and that they barely knew each other. Little did we know that September would have actually been the slow-paced option.
My mom and I have repeatedly tried to tell Chloe that this whirlwind is a genuinely bad idea and you need to know someone much longer before making such a commitment.
Once they were dating, the honeymoon stage hit HARD. They are both intensly all over each other. Ethan is nice to the point that it's creepy. I was teasing Chloe one day about burping obnoxiously (she does it on purpose to make us laugh) and Ethan, dead serious, shut me down by claiming her burps were beautiful.
The two of them talked about marrige all the time. It was bizarre. My boyfriend and I went on a double date with them to an ice rink. I did a spin on the ice and Chloe wanted to learn how to. After I taught her, she tried to get Ethan to copy the move. Ethan protested, saying with total gravity, "I can't risk fallin, I need both my knees to propose".
Now my boyfriend of two years and I are dating to marry, but we want to graduate college and save up money first. We don't talk about marriage every other sentence like Ethan and Chloe. Listening to an 18-year old who has been in a relationship for less than a month talk about a proposal was surreal.
About a week later, my mom and I tried to talk sense into Chloe again. We told her, "If you are this serious, you two need to at least go on a trip together and experience some real-world stress". Chloe looked us in the eyes and responded "Well, we drove to Bloomington together"? To Chloe's starry-eyed worldview, a 90-minute trip where nothing went wrong, was the ultimate relationship stress test. She genuinely thinks that she and Ethan are perfect together and she wants to lock him down before he even experiences a single day of college life.
Chloe isn't trying to be the villian, she is just incredibly impulsive and idealistic. Ethan, being a naive homeschooler, is just okay with everything Chloe says.
In April, Desperate to start a life with Chloe, Ethan drained his hard-earned savings, to put a down payment on a house for the two. Why did they buy a house? Well they were starting to discuss a May 2026 wedding.
The engagement happened on April 21st, less than two months after they started officially dating. Ethan bought a ring from Etsy and went to Chloe's dad for permission.