In a hospital basement true love is born

It was pretty much love at first sight in the hospital basement.

Laura Johnson, 24, was there to volunteer and Nick Riley, 27, was the volunteer coordinator.

After a few months of talking and some awkward attempts at flirting, the couple had their first date — a romantic walk through the University of Arizona campus.

In true Tucson style, they were interrupted by a javelina running toward University Boulevard.

They took it as a good sign from a desert friend and continued on their way.

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We're adding a little happiness to your Facebook feed with 14 days of Tucson love stories through Feb. 14 in honor of Valentine's Day. Grab your coffee and read on for a quick smile. 

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She's a libra, always seeking balance, and he's a left-handed scorpio. They joke that he has weird juju since he was born the year of the snake.

But, they balance each other out. And that's exactly what they both needed. 

They have since gotten engaged and are both going back to school at the UA to earn their masters degrees.

Here's how it all went down:

First impressions

Laura: When I got to the hospital to volunteer I asked for the guy I had dealt with before. They were like he's not here, but Nick is here and I was all 'who's Nick?' And when he came out of his office I was like 'oh he's really cute.'

So we just talked and he will tell you how he kind of failed at flirting with me. That was in the basement. 

My first impression was that he was kind of like everything I've had in my head of what I wanted. He had these big green eyes blinking at me and his smile. And even the way he came around the corner and held out his  hand...I was like this is a guy who know who he is and is confident and comfortable.

Nick: She came in and the woman who was helping out in the office said there's somebody in the office and when I saw her I was like 'oh, hello...'

I pulled out her old application and as trying to think of something I could say and I said 'oh you have really beautiful handwriting' and she said 'my mother wrote that.'

She doesn't give off a flighty vibe or a don't talk to me vibe. Just really like somebody who could be serious and somebody who could be fun and happy...Not really trying that hard to be liked. Just being herself. 

Making a move

Laura: We just kind of talked for a few months. I was trying to play it cool, but I ended up being the person who approached him at first. He was walking out and I was like I need to just say something or give it up, so I was like Nick! I called his name out really loud. He tried to pretend he was reading a newspaper and then we started talking and he was all 'you want to go out sometime?' And I was like 'sure.'

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Nick: I realized what was happening and a little bit of 'guyness' came out and I was like 'no she's not gonna ask me out. I'm gonna ask her out.'

Quirky habits

Laura: He is a very quirky person. When he tells people stories he kind of likes to make them uncomfortable. Like when he's telling a story I'm like 'you're right at the sweet spot' and he'll make another comment. He gets joy out of it, but not in a mean way.

Nick: She was a dancer and did ballet. So she's really into performing. So, if she does something and it's funny, she will do it two or three times. And she's also an only child. When she moves she still bounces and dances and sings. It's really cute to watch. We were watching Lucille Ball and it was the episode where they dress as martians and they go on top of the Empire State Building and Lucy was making martian noises on the way to the closet and I was like that's just like you. You're not in front of anybody anymore, but you just enjoy it. 

And, for physical quirkiness, she can fold her ears inside themselves. 

Crossed paths

Laura: Our grandparents lived only ten streets away from each other so there's like a park in my grandparents neighborhood and we were driving there and he goes 'I used to play in that park all the time.'

Nick: There are home videos of me playing at that park. We used to walk to that park. Her grandparents were like at 60 something east 23rd and mine were at 61something east 33rd so if you went on the roof of one house you could tell where the other one was. They'd been living that close to each other for decades.

Laura: I was probably like a sophomore in high school and my piano teacher got one of Elton John's red pianos and they were doing something in Park Place Mall where they would let us go and play the piano and I had a t-shirt from it that I wore one day and Nick was like 'I was there that day. I remember when they had the big red piano and there were kids playing on it.' So, we were there at the same time.

Nick: I wasn't playing the piano.

Laura: Nick was listening. 

The one

Laura: It was kind of right away. He made me feel comfortable right away like I could talk to him about whatever and I was so looking forward to always seeing him and talking to him and when my phone would light up with a text I'd be excited. I think when I talked about him people could tell it was kind of it.

Nick: She always gives off a serious vibe so I think going from that it was never a casual thing for me. So asking her out was a big deal...It just flowed really well. I don't think there was a big moment like 'now I know.' I just kind of always felt it. All of a sudden the mountains just started looking so much prettier. I couldn't figure out why. Every little vista. Why do I feel that way. I was like 'oh I have Laura now.' You just start to feel things different. You just notice that stuff more. 

Advice

Laura: Be flexible and be yourself, but be open to kind of molding yourself to what the other person needs. And listening. Not just yeah, yeah whatever. Like when you're having a fight and just apologizing to end the fight. Really listen and take it as constructive criticism to be better for yourself and for them.

One thing that popped in my head is I think a lot of times people think it's kind of weird that we were so  young when we got together. When we got engaged people said 'why do you want to be engaged?' I get that mentality of being free, but my advice is if you find the person and they're so special, don't let that prevent you from making a commitment and being together and working toward it even if you're young. It's ok. It shouldn't be a weird thing. Whether it's 18 or 55 it doesn't matter. As long as it's right. 

Nick: Try to control your reactions. I'm not always good at that. Your tone is sometimes worse than what you said. You end up circling back and talking about it anyway, so trying to skip that whole fight part and talk it out. 

If somebody is better at something let them do it...Life gets better when you let your partner do the things they know how to do. 

The proposal

Nick and Laura got engaged Christmas morning 2014.

Nick: My great aunt passed away when I was young. She had a ring she gave to my mom to give to me when I found the girl I wanted to propose to. My mom sent me the ring. So...Christmas morning. One knee right in front of the tree. And she said yes.

Laura: They're resizing it and they had to chop it off to resize it. You could hear the crack and it was like oh gosh that's a 60 year old heirloom.