we're just wasting time
and now you think i'm stupid you know i
don't think that marissa
you don't say it but i know you're
thinking it well of course i'm thinking
it right now this whole thing is stupid
see see what it is
who cares if i want to leave early even
you barely know her and you're getting
mad at me
yeah cause you think i'm annoying you oh
my
god this isn't even about us this is
about your co-workers lame public that
you feel obligated to go to
because she has no friends if we go that
counts we don't have to stay the whole
four hours but it is about us it's about
you not understanding what's important
to me
eating homemade potato salad and playing
a scrabble tournament is important to
you
this is stupid that's what i just said
you're
stupid you know what i'm willing to let
that one go
can you just tell me if we can leave
early or not please
josh you tell me
look i'm sorry i brought it up can you
just decide and i'll do whatever
no josh not this time i'm not gonna tell
you what to do because you're just gonna
use it against me later saying
i always do what you say no more
hey this one wasn't my fault there's no
reason for this
you're right there's no reason for this
it wasn't always like this
i can't really remember when it wasn't
but i know for sure we weren't always
like this
she used to be my unicorn
you know unbelievable crazy special
the girl i thought could never exist
but as time went on from one stage of a
relationship to the next
the path that started off so innocent
and fun
has taken us to that
but like most we started off as
strangers
at stage one meeting
thanks to a shoelace actually
excuse me excuse me
your shoelace is on time oh thanks no
problem watching
i couldn't have planted better even if i
had tried but thank goodness the city
hadn't fixed their park trails in five
years
[Music]
i didn't tell her that it was my first
time running in about nine months
and somehow we ended up going for almost
five miles that day
it's so pathetic to see how guys will do
just about anything
for the right girl but it paid off
because i got a number
[Music]
we really hit it off that day i think so
at least i blacked out for a few minutes
but when i woke up i remember feeling
like i had made a pretty good impression
[Music]
from that point on we ended stage two
the chase
some say it's the best part all i wanted
was to know more about her
[Music]
all i wanted to do was hang out with her
ready
the only person i wanted to talk to was
her
[Music]
she was the number one priority
what the hell man and every time i saw
her
butterflies
[Music]
she was everything that i thought could
be perfect in a girl
and as soon as it felt right would you
be my girlfriend
yeah with this simple word we begin our
relationship
taking us into stage three the honeymoon
[Music]
everyone calls it this and for good
reason it was the time when we could
finally
fully express our affection to each
other and do all the things we wanted to
do as a couple
it was a dream come true the girl i
wanted to be with so
so badly was finally mine
[Music]
but eventually the fire cooled and both
of us simmered down back to normalcy
by the end of it all we had a bajillion
pictures with each other
knew every detail of our daily lives
and like any normal healthy couple we
entered stage four
now being comfortable isn't necessarily
bad it's when we could truly be
ourselves
but it depends on what you do with that
comfort some use it positively
continuing to work at their relationship
and grow together
but others allow it to create distance
and for marissa and i it made us take
each other for granted
hey what are you doing it's tuesday
why'd you dress oh yeah i
totally forgot can we skip it i don't i
don't feel like going
this whole thing was your idea i i know
i just kind of have other things to do
um
next week yeah
all right
you're not gonna get that i'll call it
back after this level
hey watch out
whether it's taking each other for
granted
or people changing over time the bottom
line is
someone stops trying and feelings aren't
as strong as before
this could happen over a few months or a
few years
for us it was about one and a half years
when we hit stage five
tolerance
when worse and i got to the stage i
couldn't believe it and i was pretty
disappointed
somehow the girl i was so crazy about
a year ago had turned into someone who
just wasn't that special anymore
it happened so gradually that i didn't
even see it coming but there we were
just tolerating each other oh my gosh
don't even ask me about my day
i swear my co-workers are trying to get
me to quit
where do you want to eat tonight
wherever you want to go
can you just decide i asked you and i'm
being flexible
you pick jeez you're like a
five-year-old someone always has to tell
you what to do
normally i'd let that go but i'm having
a bad day too so what'd you just say
arguing is one thing but feeling
dissatisfied and unhappy with the
relationship is another
we tried various times to try and make
changes
to fix things but like so many couples
out there
it wasn't enough we became one of those
relationships where
it wasn't bad but it wasn't great
and let me tell you that's never a good
way to describe a relationship
well i guess i'm gonna sleep now
[Music]
okay good night
it wasn't long before we were in stage
six downhill
there's not much time left once you're
here the effort to try to make things
work
just isn't worth it anymore
problems continue arguments don't get
solved
i don't even really remember what we
argued about i can't talk to you right
now
why would you just i can't believe that
well how could you
what did we argue about
marissa and i sad to say
are nearing the end of this stage what's
next is what happens to everyone at some
point
the end of the line the worst stage ever
breaking up i don't know when it'll
happen
or how but i hope we can leave it on
good
mutual terms if that's ever
truly possible i think it's for the best
fine and this is when the two of us will
start a new path
one that leads right back to where we
started
strangers the change will be so drastic
and so blunt that we'll probably want to
get back together right away
just to restore what's normal hello
hey marissa
i miss you are you drunk
but this doesn't always happen and the
distance will grow
eventually the two of us will move on or
find someone new
oh my gosh
donald donald donkey
who is that who she with tell me who
that is
sorry man
and even when we both get over the past
and try to remain friends
things will never be the same josh
hey it is you whoa marissa hi nice to
see you
yeah you too you still run around here
well when i visit home yeah
visit yeah i moved up to san francisco a
couple months ago but i'm just here to
show my boyfriend the park
cool oh he's right here josh this is
alex
alex josh hi
[Music]
oh
nice to meet you man well uh we should
catch up sometime i'll talk to you later
okay
sure bye
our lives will continue on in different
directions toward the inevitable end
becoming strangers again
and everything we shared will just
become fragmented memories
from so long ago i'll question if it
even really happened and all that'll be
left
is this a box of random stuff
from a faded period of time when
this stranger was the most important
person in my life
what a shame
this is to remind you of how hard you
fell for me
when we first met josh i'm so glad we
have each other in our lives
i know that no matter what we'll always
make it through and
and we'll always have it tomorrow
together happy anniversary
[Music]
what the hell are you doing sorry sorry
i mean i mean i'm sorry marissa
it's just it's just the public i don't
know why i was being so difficult
it's it's whatever no no it's not
whatever it's important to us
not i mean not the potluck just this
this is important to us
to me let's not
do that anymore
i'm sorry please
yeah okay
i'm sorry i'm being done i'm so sorry
we're gonna be okay yeah
sorry
[Music]
to realize there's only two options for
our future together
it's either we break up or
we get married
never really thought of that i think
we'll get married
geez that's a loaded question
why you want to get married to me i
don't know right now
me neither
do you want to break up with me
of course not well it's
gonna be one or the other
what do you think will happen if we
don't end up together
we going to hate each other
[Music]
i think we'll keep in touch
i think that
if life separates us and
we end up in totally different places
always remember when our paths align for
this period of time
and i'll be thankful for that
[Music]
and hope that wherever you are you'll be
thankful too
and i think that's the best
[Music]
you