When Lily realized that she had fallen in love with Mary, it was when they were running errands together, and were buying groceries. While they were in the supermarket, Lily bought all the stuff they needed while walking through the aisles slowly and carefully, making sure not to miss a single thing off the list, while Mary went straight to the candy aisle.
Lily just assumed she would be buying them some snacks and candy they can eat while hanging out with friends or watching something together. When they met up again to pay for everything, Lily looked at what Mary had gotten, and she had seen two packs of her favourite candy, strawberry mentos, and she felt so happy. Mary had remembered her favourite candy, and had decided to buy her some too.
That was the day Lily realised her feelings for Mary, and from that day, Lily kept her eye out to see what Mary's favourite candy was. After around two weeks of looking at what Mary always ate for her sweets, and looking at what she bought regularly at the grocery shop, she figured out that Mary's favourite candy was black licorice, the universally hated candy. Lily hated it too, but she didn't care.
Whenever she went to the store, or found herself near a candy shop, she would go in and buy some black licorice for Mary, and some strawberry mentos for herself.
And life went on, but the strawberry mentos were still there, and so was the black licorice. Life went on, and they became closer, they talked more, they became best friends, they went to each other for everything they could, except for who they liked.
And still the strawberry mentos were there, on Mary's bedside table, waiting to be finished and replaced with more. And still the black licorice was there, scattered all over Lily's room, waiting to be eaten and replaced.
Their candy was all over the house now, infesting the corners of their living room, scattered all over the kitchen, like their love for each other, hidden and unspoken, but there nonetheless.
After a month and two, Lily realised how kind and sweet Mary truly was. They had always made time for each other when they were friends, but now Mary wanted to spend most of her time with Lily, and Lily wanted to spend most of her time with Mary, so they figured out ways to make it work.
They were the closest they had ever been.
After a while, she realised that she was really in love with Mary so Lily decided to get Mary a gift and some black licorice, and asked her out on a 'friend date' at Mary's favourite restaurant. Of course Mary couldn't say no to that, so they went out together on a Friday, Lily had gotten all dressed up, and made sure she had the gift and the black licorice with her before taking her and Mary there.
While they were at the restaurant, they talked and talked, and when they ordered the food, Lily realised she was just staring into Mary's eyes, so she decided to bring up the fact that both of them haven't had boyfriends or girlfriends for around a year. Mary knew that Lily was bisexual, but she never brought it up, so Lily decided to with the girlfriend comment.
After that they talked a little about love life, and their own love lives before they had met each other, and then they ate.
After eating all their food and paying the bill, they had just gone outside of the restaurant and then Lily gave Mary her gift –the black licorice included– and asked her to be her girlfriend since she really liked her. Surprisingly Mary said yes, confessing her love as well, and then they had their first kiss, so sweet and innocent. Mary's breath had tasted like strawberry mentos, while Lily's tasted like black licorice, it was the perfect mix.
A date turned into, two turned into three, and then they were so obviously in love with each other, and were finally dating.
After that day, they always acted in love with each other, not bothering to even hide it in front of their friends before they told them. Throughout those times the black licorice and strawberry mentos stayed on their bedsides, and when they moved into the same room, Lily's black licorice and Mary's strawberry mentos were on the same bedside table, almost as if to mirror the movements of their shared lives.
When they argued (and trust me they argued sometimes), Lily made sure to calm herself down, and Mary made sure to talk everything out. They had balanced each other in a way that truly made them more in love, which had barely even felt possible.
After almost a year of dating, Lily realised that Mary still regularly had breath that smells like strawberry mentos, and every time they kissed, it was a mix of strawberry and black licorice.
And everytime Lily remembered that, she knew Mary was the one she was going to be with for the rest of her life. She was amazing, and even if she wasn't perfect, they were perfect for each other.