This Imgur love story is breaking the Internet in the best way

Sometimes, a story circulates throughout the vast landscape of the Internet that warms our hearts and restores our faith in all things romantic and wonderful and happy. Friends, today is one of those days, and the story is that of a couple who met on Imgur.

Now, if you’re surprised that people can actually meet on Imgur, and that the site isn’t just a plethora of weird photographs mined daily by @midnight for the purpose of hilarity, you wouldn’t be alone. But in fact, there’s a large community of users who interact, as well as those who don’t (they are called lurkers, and they aren’t so bad).

Imgur can also facilitate an Internet celebrity, as in the case of the ‘Ridiculously Happy Marine.’ Photos of a gregariously happy Marine began to circulate Imgur —and it’s easy to see why. His smile is crazy contagious, and he’s adorable. Here’s an example from two years ago, posted by StrayBullet (aka, the Ridiculously Happy Marine himself):

And then THIS Imgur pic of Ridiculously Happy Marine happened. The photo features a U.S. Marine holding an armful of packages, a blissful grin lighting up his face.

The image went crazy viral, became a meme, and turned Imgur user StrayBullet into something of a major Internet celebrity. StrayBullet amassed a legion of fans, many of them women, who enjoyed both his handsomeness and upbeat demeanor.

This is where the story gets interesting: as Cosmopolitan reports, in December 2013, the Ridiculously Happy Marine received a message from Wlfqueen07. She joined Imgur to tell him she’d been lurking on his photos and that she appreciated his service, finally wishing him a safe return home. He responded, and the two exchanged their real names, Dean and Cesci, before realizing that they only live a few towns away from one another. How about them apples, Nicholas Sparks?

While the two could have met up right away upon Dean/ StrayBullet/ the Ridiculously Happy Marine’s return stateside, they didn’t —instead, they chatted for over a year before finally meeting. However, it now seems they are going strong, IRL: two days ago Cesci posted their story, “A Match Made on Imgur,” showing a picture of the happy now-couple as well as an adorable conversation in which they confess their mutual like/ love.

Here’s their story. Our hearts are exploding, BTW.

Cesci shared her thankfulness for the Imgur community, which brought her and Dean together. She also told the world that she and her Ridiculously Happy Marine have an Instagram: @ridiculouslyhappycouple. Suffice it to say, we’re already obsessed.

(Images via Imgur)