Steve Lehman was a college senior near Philadelphia when he started to realize something wonderful and terrifying.
“I remember there were times where we were hanging out just like we’d always hung out since freshman year, and I would look over and I would just think like, ‘Oh my God, I’m like in love with one of my best friends.’”
He was looking over at Katya Shipyatsky, a senior at a different, nearby school. They’d hung out for a few years, as close friends, but things were changing now.
“There were multiple times of the semester where Katya and I were hanging out one-on-one, and each time I would have, like, the urge to tell her how I felt about her and I stopped myself each time,” he said.
He was afraid. But again, this was senior year, and life is short. Things finally came to a head one night as they finished watching a Bruce Springsteen documentary on Netflix.
“I thought like, ‘This is it,’” he said. “I have to say something, like, I cannot let this movie end and not tell Katya how I feel about her.”
It was just the two of them, in the dark — Netflix and bare your soul.
“I was just kind of like shaking in my chair, just like knowing that I had to do it, but so scared of doing it,” he said.
The Boss said something beautiful about life and love to end the movie. Both of them cried as the credits rolled, and she was struck by how moved he was.
“I think I had never seen Steve cry before. I’m not usually a physical, like touchy person — I’m not super touchy with people, but, I felt like I had to do something,” she said.
Meanwhile, Steve was seconds from telling her everything.
“I looked over at her and before I could even say anything, she reached over and took my hand,” he said. “And I think if there was any doubt in my mind, that gesture totally erased it.”
