It was the beginning of the school year in 2010 when Victoria Stuss and Brian Bones first took notice of each other. The two were attending a Georgetown University School of Medicine orientation mixer at Guards, a now-defunct college haunt, when Brian decided to introduce himself.

I actually knew Tori lived really close to me, basically on my street, so I went up to her and her friend and was like, Hey, why arent we besties yet? Which is totally awkward, but it was just me being a friendly newbie, I guess, Brian says with a laugh.

In their first year, the two had all of their lecture-style classes together, but Victoria says she didnt see much of him because he wasnt exactly the going-to-class-every-day type.

I definitely knew he existed, Victoria says. Id see him out all the time, and I remember thinking he was tall and funny, but we never really had a solid conversation until second semester.

Brian invited Victoria and her friends to a happy hour of sorts at McFaddens in February, and the two were able to learn a bit more about each other. Brian no longer thought of Victoria as just a quiet girl, and Victoria no longer thought of Brian as just a slacker. After spending the rest of their first year on friendly terms, Brian decided to make his move when they got back to campus in the fall.

He took her out to Mon Ami Gabi in Bethesda, where, even though they had been friends for more than a year, they still had first-date jitters. The two relied on their separate medical school experiences to lead the conversation, and they quickly found out that they were undeniably different students with polar opposite approaches to studying, which ended up helping them through the next two years of school together.

We were studying for the same tests, but we were studying in very different ways, with me being more big picture and Tori wanting to fill in the little details. But we have always had very similar successes, Brian says. Which led us to create a name for the two of us while we went through this stressful school experience Team Bones.

They considered themselves official by that December and began an extremely encouraging and valuable relationship. With medical school as demanding as it is, they started leaning on each other for support through the most difficult parts of their academic careers, such as 80-plus-hour weeks working at a hospital and grueling finals periods.

By our third year, I was thinking about what I really wanted out of life, outside of hospital life, Brian says. And quickly during that time, I realized what I wanted, and it wasnt career goals, it was about being with Tori and coming home to a person and place I loved.

After about a year as supportive teammates on Team Bones, Brian and Victoria started to talk marriage. In December 2012, Brian visited Victorias family in New Jersey and was granted permission to propose from her father. On Dec. 30, they visited the Old Post Office and climbed to the top, but Brian quickly realized that the miserable and frigid evening was not the right time, so he waited until the next day, New Years Eve.

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On Love: Victoria Stuss and Brian Bones