He Wanted Out of the ‘Friend Zone’, but She Took the Lead

In the summertime of 2016, Andrew John Zbihley was scrolling by way of the Northwestern Class of 2020 Fb web page on the lookout for a roommate when a photograph of his future classmate, Olivia Natalia Pura, caught his eye.

“I seen her profile image was of her strolling throughout the Miss Teen USA stage,” stated Mr. Zbihley, 24. “It took just a few seconds for the conclusion to set in that she was method out of my league.”

However as destiny would have it, each had been assigned to the identical dorm, Elder Corridor, in September 2016, albeit totally different flooring.

Though they lived close by, their paths had not crossed till later that fall once they had been launched to one another by a mutual buddy. The trio had been getting ready for a chemistry midterm and determined to type a examine group.

Mr. Zbihley stated he was doubtless “sweating by way of my T-shirt out of nervousness. However she stated, ‘Hello, I’m Olivia.’”

Three easy phrases that Mr. Zbihley stated modified every little thing. “Her voice had a definite Midwestern tune to it that took her from ‘lovely pageant lady I’d be fortunate to speak to’ to ‘might be a lifelong buddy if I play my playing cards proper,’” Mr. Zbihley stated.

It wasn’t lengthy earlier than their friendship grew so robust that, Ms. Pura, 24, stated, “We had been inseparable, a lot in order that each of our households started to marvel if there was one thing extra beneath the floor.”

Mr. Zbihley graduated from Northwestern, magna cum laude, in 2020 with a bachelor’s diploma in neuroscience and economics. He’s now a medical scholar at Northwestern’s Feinberg College of Drugs.

Additionally a 2020 magna cum laude graduate from Northwestern, Ms. Pura has a bachelor’s diploma in biochemistry. She is now a Ph.D. candidate on the College of Chicago, the place she research biochemistry and molecular biophysics.

Collectively, they host the “Science in Society” podcast, which debuted in June 2020. “It was Drew’s concept to start out the podcast, which is concerning the methods during which science impacts our on a regular basis lives,” Ms. Pura stated.

In 2019, by their senior yr, they steadily made it out of the buddy zone. But it surely wasn’t Mr. Zbihley who made the primary transfer.

“Whereas I used to be terrified of the prospect of doubtless dropping a real greatest buddy for all times if issues didn’t work out, I had a intestine feeling it will be well worth the effort ought to we develop emotions for one another,” Mr. Zbihley stated.

That fall, he invited Ms. Pura to a Friendsgiving. “She returned the favor by inviting me to a live performance,” Mr. Zbihley stated. Throughout that night with pals, on Nov. 23, 2019, “Liv made the primary transfer,” he stated. “As she is going to rapidly level out, I’d by no means have carried out so, and she or he’s proper.”

At Spybar Chicago, in the midst of the crowded membership, Ms. Pura pulled Mr. Zbihley in for what could be their very first kiss.

“It was the ‘aha’ second for each of us to comprehend that there have been quite a lot of emotions between us that we hadn’t been absolutely conscious of,” Ms. Pura stated. “I had positively considered it earlier than. I had these little butterflies about it. As soon as we every realized that our emotions had been reciprocated, it was all pleasure.” 

Their first official date was on Mr. Zbihley’s birthday, Dec. 4, 2019. “We went to the most important Starbucks Reserve on this planet in downtown Chicago the place we handled ourselves to a flight of espresso and chocolate pairings adopted by a spherical of coffee-inspired cocktails earlier than having fun with a film later that night,” Ms. Pura stated.

Even earlier than that date, Ms. Pura stated, “I knew Drew was ‘the one’ years earlier than we began courting. From our freshman yr in school, I felt in my coronary heart that Drew could be a particular presence in my life. He could be somebody that remained one in every of my closest, truest pals for many years after commencement.”

A number of brief months after their first date, the Covid pandemic emerged.

In March 2020, the pair left for spring break and headed to Pittsburgh to go to Mr. Zbihley’s household. “Whereas we had been there, it was introduced that the rest of the varsity yr could be distant,” Ms. Pura stated. So, they ended up staying in Pittsburgh for a few month. The next month they stayed with Ms. Pura’s household at her mum or dad’s rental property in Bradenton, Fl. for about three weeks.

The abrupt halt to their lives at college allowed them to deepen their relationship.

“We ended up spending each waking second with one another, studying to lean on one another,” Mr. Zbihley stated. “We went from the ‘honeymoon’ courting section to seeing one another at our ugliest.” It was one thing he had by no means skilled with anybody else earlier than.

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“There have been quite a lot of enjoyable occasions,” Mr. Zbihley stated. “A whole lot of the day-to-day obligations went away so we performed quite a lot of Pokeman. You study quite a bit about an individual when your persistence is examined. That actually cemented quite a lot of my emotions for her.”

It cemented emotions for Ms. Pura, too. “It was then that I first critically thought to myself, ‘Drew is the person that I wish to marry,’” Ms. Pura stated.

“Going by way of Covid and already being pals actually accelerated our conversations,” she stated. “Clearly there’s at all times going to be one thing greater than us and that put our personal issues in perspective. Seeing how we challenged one another was actually thrilling.”

Within the fall of 2020, Ms. Pura was the reigning Miss Illinois USA 2020, having been topped in September 2019. Because the pandemic started to degree out, her preparations for Miss USA started. “My life immediately shifted from days spent binge-watching ‘Tiger King’ to juggling my Ph.D., the continuing pandemic, a brand new pet, and preparing for a nationally televised competitors,” Ms. Pura stated.

Ms. Pura positioned within the high 10 on the pageant, which was held on the Graceland Exhibition Heart in Memphis on Nov. 9, 2020.

It was after that competitors that the 2 started to speak about marriage extra critically. “It’s like a dawn, you’re feeling like this heat and information and peace come over you,” Mr. Zbihley stated. “You don’t actually notice it till it’s there. However as soon as it’s there, .”

The 2 attended graduate faculties in the identical location beginning within the fall of 2020. She was accepted into the College of Chicago for her Ph.D. and he into the Feinberg College of Drugs. They lived collectively in Mr. Zbihley’s residence in Chicago.

Throughout their Spring semester of that first yr, Mr. Zbihley agreed to a few’s photograph shoot, which Ms. Pura had been asking him to do, when he realized what an ideal guise that might be for a proposal. He steered a springtime shoot at their alma mater.

On Could 2, 2021, about 45 minutes into the shoot, their photographer, in on the shock and even taking credit score for bringing alongside a videographer for enjoyable, steered they transfer to Northwestern’s Shakespeare Backyard. So, the workforce made their option to the quiet little oasis tucked in the midst of campus.

Ms. Pura had packed her favourite footwear for the shoot, black fight boots. However Mr. Zbihley had secretly packed a pair of vivid pink Crocs as effectively, with Jibbitz charms spelling out “Mrs. Z?”. Whereas she was speaking to the photographer concerning the new setup, Mr. Zbihley got here up from behind Ms. Pura, tapped her on the shoulder, and supplied her the 2 choices. She selected the Crocs.

They celebrated with each of their households, who Mr. Zbihley had secretly invited, at a neighborhood Italian restaurant.

On July 2, 2022, the day earlier than Ms. Pura’s twenty fourth birthday, the couple had been married by the Rev. Adam C. Potter, a Roman Catholic priest from Mary, Mom of God Parish in McKeesport and White Oak, Pa. About 200 company attended the marriage at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh, with the reception within the Carnegie Music Corridor Lobby. The latter of which, Ms. Pura stated, “Felt like one thing out of a Disney Princess film — regal, romantic and grand.”

The couple additionally opted for a primary contact moderately than a primary look. “We needed the primary look after we walked down the aisle, so we obtained to the touch palms and speak however not look,” Mr. Zbihley stated.

“As quickly as Liv popped out,” he continued, “my coronary heart felt prefer it was beating three toes out of my chest. I used to be rocking backwards and forwards. My pleasure was manifesting in my physique. I had a smile I couldn’t wipe off my face. It was magical. Once we recited our vows that was like an out of physique expertise.”

Ms. Pura added, “As soon as I began strolling down the aisle it was like a swap flipped. It was like going right into a dream state.”

On This Day

When July 2, 2022

The place St. Paul Cathedral, Pittsburgh

Cookies Galore In Pittsburgh, it’s conventional to haven’t solely a marriage cake but additionally a cookie desk. “Not more than a dozen family and friends made 3,000 cookies, together with pizzelle, pierniki, and girl locks,” Mr. Zbihley stated. “It was an enormous show — 32 toes of desk.”

Elvis Has Entered the Constructing Ms. Pura’s youngest brother, Patrick Pura, 16, served as one of many groomsmen. He additionally shocked the couple by enjoying the Elvis Presley favourite, “Can’t Assist Falling in Love” on the piano after the cake slicing. The track was a nod, Ms. Pura stated, “to after I competed in Miss USA at Graceland.”

A Nod to Her Motherland Ms. Pura is a first-generation Polish American, and plenty of of her wedding ceremony company had been as effectively. To honor her household’s homeland, the couple had bilingual signage all through the reception, performed some basic Polish social gathering songs, and included conventional Polish treats on their cookie desk.