COVID hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing for a lot of people’s personal development over the past year. It has actually strengthened some, both on an individual and romantic relationship level, to the point where they have turned out for the better all this time later.
Take for instance cutie duo Austin and Jared who are our latest to be featured in Instinct’s Couple Series. I discovered these two while chatting with them on a popular gay app (for research purposes of course) and fell in love with just how enamored these two talked about one another.
Their journey together began on another popular app and remains stronger than ever today with COVID to partially thank for that. They discuss all of this and more in my exclusive with them below. Take a look.
How did you two initially meet and was it love at first sight?
Austin and Jared: We were originally talking on Grindr before we decided to meet at a low-key Latin restaurant. We were both very surprised (Jared’s profile said 5’11” and he was actually 5’7″. Austin’s profile said he was 6’4″ and he was actually 6’4″). There was definitely a height difference, but it didn’t stop us from connecting on a really deep level. We were both from stereotypical small towns in which we weren’t able to be ourselves. We spent the whole night talking
What is your favorite thing to love about each other?
Austin: It is clichè, but my favorite thing to love about Jared is the way he looks at me when we are in public. I feel like his prized possession. Plus who could not love that smile and baby blue eyes.
Jared: Austin is always himself no matter the situation. I love how he understands himself and never lets others bring him down.
Are you monogamous or in an open relationship? How do you make either work?
Austin and Jared: We consider ourselves monogamous. We have had occasional fun, but only do it with each other. We both realized that there can be a difference between love and sex.
What has COVID been like for the two of you? Has it brought you closer together?
Austin and Jared: COVID made us realize that we are imperfect humans and that our communication skills weren’t as good as we thought they were. Working through that may have brought on more arguments than usual, but it did bring us closer together.
Has the topic of adopting or having kids via surrogate ever come up?
Austin and Jared: We have actually talked about kids quite a bit. In an ideal world, we would adopt one child and surrogate one from each of us. We both want to start having kids in around 5 years.
What is the best advice you would give to anyone who is looking for love out there but hasn’t found it?
Austin: The hardest part about finding love is rejection. You need to understand that there will be a lot of rejection before you find Mr. Right. Be patient with an open heart and eventually you will find what you are looking for.
Jared: Love is not something that is handed to you. You have to search for it. Don’t take the love you already have for granted just because you are searching for that deep, intimate connection.