I don't really do labels. But when someone you really like tells you that what you have together has started to feel more and more like dating, it turns out that's quite a nice thing to hear. So yes. I am dating someone. And I am genuinely happy about that. I will be honest — for a while I wasn't sure it was mutual. I have a tendency to invest quickly and fully, and I had started to wonder if I was doing all the work. But Rich is just different to me in how he expresses things. More reserved, more considered. The feelings are there, they just arrive quietly rather than loudly. I am learning to recognise that. The moments I keep coming back to are the small ones. Falling asleep on him at an event — not because I was bored, but because I felt safe enough to just switch off. Him falling asleep on me on the sofa in London. That kind of easy, unannounced comfort tells you more about a connection than any big conversation ever could. He also keeps pushing me to sort out this bloody hernia when I would much rather ignore it and hope for the best. That's him looking after me in his own way. I notice it even when he doesn't make a fuss about it. Am I scared? Yes, a bit. My ex did a number on my ability to trust, and I am very aware of my own habit of feeling too much too soon. But I trust Rich and have no reason not to, he's a sound guy who is open and upfront and has been from the start... so yeah very unchartered territory but at some point you just have to show up and see what happens. We do have a lot in common — engineering, tech, trains, the kind of conversations that go on for hours without either of us noticing - OK I really have to stop my brain from trying to fix the entire UK rail network.... I want to have adventures with him and just see where it takes us! One thing I am going to have to work on — his mobile signal is absolutely appalling and half his WhatsApp messages arrive in a queue. Every instinct I have is telling me to get in there and fix it as it's likely a radio issue or he's on a shitty network. I am resisting as its too early to put him on my Vodafone friends and family - though I should do this before the resignation goes in :) I don't know exactly where this is going. But for the first time in a while I am not dreading finding out. That feels like a good start.