From the moment Travis Kelce first tried to give Taylor Swift a friendship bracelet bearing his phone number - only to fumble the pass - it seemed that this was destined to be just another of the pop superstar's doomed relationships.
'I was a little butthurt I didn't get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,' he later confided, revealing that whatever else attracted the singer-songwriter - famous for her clever, literary lyrics - to the hulking Kelce, it probably wasn't going to be the poetry of his diction.
But of course, opposites attract. Swift surely conceded as much when she announced her engagement online this week, writing: 'Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.'
The announcement was pure fairytale: the Kansas City Chiefs football star popped the question on bent knee in a woodland bower heaving with flowers.
But fairytales often end well only after a story full of hardship and cruel reversals.
Indeed, the two years that have elapsed since Swift and Kelce, both 35, first got together haven't always been a bed of roses.
The announcement was pure fairytale: the Kansas City Chiefs football star popped the question on bent knee in a woodland bower heaving with flowers
Indeed, the two years that have elapsed since Swift and Kelce, both 35, first got together haven't always been a bed of roses
Their love story began in July 2023 with that failed attempt by Kelce to pass her his contact details when her Eras Tour pitched up in Kansas City. Apparently, he later revealed, the dedicated songstress saves her voice for the three-hour performances - and that meant no meet and greets.
But a determined Kelce wasn't one to let the matter drop.
Waxing lyrical about her on New Heights, the podcast he co-hosts with brother Jason, he invited Swift to watch the Chiefs play at Arrowhead Stadium, the team's home turf.
His proposition, Swift later admitted to Time magazine, was 'metal as hell.'
'I threw it out there, I threw the ball in her court,' Kelce said at the time on The Pat McAfee Show. 'I told her, you know, "I've seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead, you might have to come see me rock the stage in Arrowhead and see which one's a little more lit." So, we'll see what happens in the near future.'
Clearly, his Hail Mary worked.
By September that year, when she first saw him on the field, it was reported that the pair were 'talking' to each other and occasionally 'quietly hanging out.'
'By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple,' Swift later revealed. 'I think somepeople think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.'
Kelce later confirmed that he'd known Taylor for 'close to a month' before she attended that first Chiefs game at their stadium.
'By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple,' Swift (pictured at a September 2023 game) later revealed
Their love story began in July 2023 with that failed attempt by Kelce to pass her his contact details when her Eras Tour pitched up in Kansas City. (Pictured: Swift and Kelce celebrating the Chiefs victory at the 2024 Super Bowl)
As Swift's army of fans struggled to come to terms with her dating an alternately bearded and mustachioed tight end from Ohio rather than the string of somewhat rarefied (and usually British) actors and rock stars she previously romanced, the Kelce camp did its best to reassure skeptics.
'Travis has been into Taylor for a while and definitely has a crush on her,' a source told Entertainment Tonight. 'He is a simple guy that is very funny, charismatic, chill, and loves playing football.'
He slowly began to win over Swift - and her devout fans.
He opened her car door, held her hand as they faced the flashing lights of paparazzi on date nights and was her most vocal champion, boasting about her at every opportunity. (Kelce once gushed to the Wall Street Journal that he'd 'never dated anyone' with an 'aura' like hers and recently told GQ her work ethic is 'mind-blowing.')
It was his chivalry, insiders later revealed, that wooed Swift.
'They have a lot of fun together and she loves how chivalrous he is,' a source said. 'Taylor feels at ease with Travis and they are already very comfortable around each other.'
Kelce once booked an entire restaurant so he could throw a post-game party for his teammates, Taylor and his family. The pair were seen dancing together and, said a witness, were 'very affectionate with one another but kept things fun and lighthearted.'
In retrospect, the couple's determination to say little about their relationship pretty much from the start strongly suggested that they were taking it seriously.
That was not to say, however, that they kept it under wraps.
'They have a lot of fun together and she loves how chivalrous he is,' a source told Entertainment Tonight of the couple (pictured in 2023 on a date in NYC)
They were pictured on numerous outings, putting on a loved-up display. (Pictured at the 2024 US Open)
He opened her car door, held her hand as they faced the flashing lights of paparazzi on date nights and was her most vocal champion, boasting about her at every opportunity
The pair were photographed vacationing in the Bahamas together in March 2024
Swift's army of fans struggled to come to terms with her dating an alternately bearded and mustachioed tight end from Ohio rather than the string of somewhat rarefied (and usually British) actors and rock stars she previously romanced
While the pair did not post each other on social media that often, their romance was still very public. (A stark contrast to the extremely private relationship between Swift and ex Joe Alwyn.)
Swift turned up to watch the Chiefs play the New York Jets in early October 2023 with an eye-catching celebrity entourage that included Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
She became such a fixture at his games that it was more of a story when she wasn't there. (She even kept attending after she was booed by New England Patriots fans at a December 2023 game.) And, of course, she was pictured passionately embracing her beau on the field after the Chiefs' major wins.
In October 2023, they were seen kissing and cuddling at a Saturday Night Live afterparty, having made a brief appearance on the sketch comedy show.
Days later, the news broke that Kelce had bought a new secluded $6 million home in Kansas City just so the couple could have more privacy.
Friends of Kelce said they'd been surprised by the match given she was 'unlike anyone' he had previously dated. Meanwhile, people close to the singer insisted that the footballer was a 'gentleman' and that's why Swift had fallen for him so hard.
Sometimes, the gooey love affair was a little overpowering.
'I love you so much it's not even funny,' Kelce could be heard saying as they embraced after a game in January. 'I’ve never been so proud of anyone in my life ever,' Swift replied.
In February 2024, she flew halfway across the world, breaking off from her Eras tour in Japan to watch him play at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. By the following month, they were reportedly in 'nesting' mode and 'enjoying movie nights in her home theater, catching up on films and shows they've missed' in Los Angeles.
However, they managed to drag themselves away from the screen to attend the Coachella music festival. A source told Us Weekly: '[It's] been so refreshing for Taylor not to feel the need to hide with Travis. He makes her feel safe and protected like she has the freedom to be and act however she wants.'
She became such a fixture at his games that it was more of a story when she wasn't there
A source told Us Weekly: '[It's] been so refreshing for Taylor not to feel the need to hide with Travis. He makes her feel safe and protected like she has the freedom to be and act however she wants.' (Pictured at Coachella in 2024)
Kelce joined Swift at her 2024 Eras Tour stop in London on stage, performing in a top hat and tails
Just last month, Swift joined Kelce and his brother Jason on their podcast New Heights for the very first time to debut her upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl
In June 2024,the excitement around the high-profile romance - that some now say will provide the US with the closest thing it's ever had to a royal wedding - boiled over when he joined her on-stage at London's Wembley Stadium for her Eras Tour , during which Kelce wore a top hat and tails .
But by September ,the love train threatened to come off the rails when an alleged 'contract' went public outlining Kelce's supposed publicity strategy in the event of them breaking up .
The internet all but combusted with the furor before the footballer dismissed the alleged documents as 'entirely false and fabricated'.
But ,when Swift missed two Chiefs games speculation that 'Tayvis' was over grew louder ,fueling whispers that the relationship was little more than a PR stunt .
Yet ,the evidence suggested otherwise .Having missed Thanksgiving together the previous year ,the 2024 holiday saw Swift and her family hosting the Kelces in Nashville .Hardly the behavior of a couple on the rocks .
And this spring saw 'Tavyis' indulge in a series of secret getaways and intimate dates ,as insiders said they craved a more 'normal' life .
'They like to cuddle on the couch and watch movies ,play board games ,spend time with family ,cook dinner together and just hang out ,'said a source .
All the while ,Kelce proved to be a pillar of strength ,say sources ,when Swift had to contend with her father's recent heart surgery and the tension that reportedly ruined her close friendship with Blake Lively after being dragged into the actress's legal battle with Justin Baldoni .
Swift - with her many failed romances and flings documented in her discography - has been searching for this kind of love since she could put pen to paper.
'I was like, if this guy isn't crazy, um -- which is a big "if" -- this is sort of what I've been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was a teenager,' she revealed this month.
Indeed, it looks like the pop empress finally got her 'Love Story.'