Sometimes one person in a relationship — the one who wants to get "proposed to" someday — will do that thing where they drop hints about their ideal engagement ring. "I'm a size 7 in rings, just in case you were wondering," or "I've always loved emerald-cut diamonds like my mom's ring." You know, subtle hints. Typically, the ring buyer will store those information nuggets away for the future, but it's rare for someone to go out and buy their partner's ideal ring a few months into the relationship and then just sit on it for the next three years, secretly waiting for the right moment to arise. It's either incredibly ballsy or totally romantic, and one Los Angeles couple did just that.

Elan and Molly had only been dating for eight months when Molly stumbled upon an emerald engagement ring she liked. She tried it on, mentioned to Elan that she liked it, and moved on with her life.

Three and a half years ago, Molly and I took a trip to Seattle. We had only been dating for about eight months, but we were already very much in love. While there, we popped into a vintage jewelry shop just for the hell of it. At one point, Molly put an emerald ring on her finger
— elan gale (@theyearofelan) December 20, 2019

Little did she know that her boyfriend of eight months went back to the store and bought the ring, pocketing it for the next three years, waiting for the right moment.

He then hid the ring "in a small box that I kept behind our bed."

For three years, Molly slept two feet from her engagement ring, totally unaware.

Finally, on a skiing trip to Japan, Elan knew the time had come to pull out the ring.

Reader: She said yes.

The good people of Twitter were very much here for this love story and how it all unfolded.

The only thing that makes this story even better is that the Elan in this story is a producer for The Bachelor, you know, the show that traffics in incredibly short and whirlwind relationship, though Elan joked that he, personally, is "a proponent of very long and slow relationships."

Congrats to these two lovebirds who prove that the saying "when you know, you know" really is true.

Guy proposes to girlfriend with ring he'd been hiding next to their bed for three years.