Last week, the winners of our cutest couple contest were announced. Congratulations to junior Alex Siarris and his boyfriend Matthew Holmes!

The happy couple have been together for six months, and their relationship is anything but ordinary. Holmes is from Chandler, Arizona, and the couple met over Facebook.

“It was honestly by chance. I had just gone through a pretty bad breakup and I was more so looking for something fun before getting into something serious again, but Matthew gave me no choice. He was looking for a relationship but because I live 1,747 miles away he had no interest in me at first,” Sander said. “Over time, I began to fall for him though. We spent the whole summer texting and skyping, getting to know each other better than anyone else until he finally agreed to be mine. Although at first we thought the relationship would last a month at most, it has turned into something important to both of us.”

Because Holmes lives so far away, the couple haven’t been able to use their gift card from the cutest couple contest, but since Holmes will be in Chicago for the entire summer, they plan on using it then.

“Our first date was to the Cheesecake Factory under the John Hancock,” Siarris said.

Not only was winning important to them because of the sentimental value of remembering their first date, but the boys also wanted to send out a message.

“Niles West is known for acceptance and diversity and I believe that it’s important to live out that motto. If Matthew and I won we would be the first openly gay couple to have won a contest like this. It shows that people are more accepting to the idea of love can be more than between a male and female,” Siarris said.

“I felt great, Holmes said, “but Alex felt even more ecstatic since we were the first gay couple to win.”

Though the couple did end up victorious, they did face some negativity the voting process.

“Regarding all the people that started the controversy on Facebook I wasn’t mad, but it was hurtful. People who don’t know us, our story, were talking about it under the false pretenses that we were cheating. Even worse, people that don’t even know me or go to this school began to call us the F-word which was totally unacceptable,” Siarris said.

Winning, to them, meant more than just a gift card. Their intention was to also send hope to other couples in the LGBTQ community who may be struggling with acceptance. The negativity was a bit discouraging for the couple, but their intentions were still pure.

“The whole idea of Matthew and I winning was to give the kids who are afraid of coming out the courage by saying that it’s okay, and people are accepting,” Siarris said.

Although acceptance from the outside world is something that the couple has overcome, they are fortunate enough to have lots of love and support from their family and friends.

My parents are extremely supportive — my mom is letting him live with us when he moves here — and my friends think it’s the cutest thing ever,” Holmes said.

Siarris has had a similar experience, although he came out to his family purely by accident.

“I forgot to change the privacy settings on one of my photos which they all saw (oops)! But 95% of them act totally normal about it and talk to me openly about it, and I love them for it. People constantly message Matthew and I telling us how cute we are, or telling us we’re an inspiration for their relationship and that makes us feel great,” Siarris said.

In addition to acceptance, distance has also been an issue.

Siarris and Holmes both agree that being in a long distance relationship is hard because they are not able to physically be there for each other when they need support.

“You can’t be there to hug each other when you’re feeling down, plane tickets are expensive, people are judgmental and opinionated and trust is very fragile. When Matthew and I first started dating there were a lot of people who said what we were doing wasn’t real,” Siarris said.

The reality of their relationship was also hard for Holmes to grasp at first.

“Guys in Arizona are extremely fake so I thought Alex was going to be like that too since I was so used to it. I always had trouble trusting him so it’s so easy to just [now] say, ‘you’re the only one in my life,'” Holmes said.

For Siarris, trust was also an issue.

“A lot of people try to get into the middle of our relationship. Despite our constant worrying, I’ve never met or been with someone so loyal or dedicated and trustworthy. We always know how to talk it out and make things work.”

Despite everything, the boys have overcome the obstacles and believe that their relationship is extremely strong.

“By doing long distance, I fell in love with Matthew’s personality and that just made everything we did easier and stronger because we were so well bonded personality wise. Yes it was hard, but obviously we made it through and everyone had to take back what they said once we met this winter, seeing we make a great team and couple,” Siarris said.

Spending winter break together simply reinforced their relationship.

“I guess now the hardest thing is not being able to wake up next to him like I did this winter break,” Holmes said.

“Although we started dating in August, we never officially met until winter break,” Siarris explained.

After Holmes got a job at Pizza Hut, he spent his first paycheck on a plane ticket to Chicago to come and see Siarris. Siarris was so excited that he got to the airport two hours early, and admitted that he could not stop shaking (although he wasn’t sure if it was because of the five cups of Starbucks coffee, or the excitement of seeing Holmes).

Once Holmes arrived, Siarris admitted that he “stood there like an idiot in a cheesy romantic movie with a giant welcome sign. To make it worst, basically everyone on the plane saw it because he was the last person out, and there he was. Then he tripped. He almost fell down the escalator! And that will forever be the first thing I saw when him and I met, and I think it’s perfect,” Siarris said.

Although the boys made some great memories over winter break, they have plenty more that they have made and look forward to making.

“My favorite [memory] would have to be when Alex gave me a promise ring,” Holmes said. “We had just met Tyler Oakley and Alex was acting like such a jerk about it until [I found out] it was all an act and he was just doing it as a way to give me the ring.”

The couple are ecstatic that they have both found someone that they are so compatible and comfortable with.

“What I love most about Alex that I can be myself around him and he knows how weird I can get. I’ve never been able to do that around a guy. I also love how protective he is and how smart he is,” Holmes said.

“As cliché as it is, I love just about everything about Matthew. He’s someone who knows how to make me happy even if he can’t physically be here, and not a lot of people can do that. No matter what I do, I can always be myself around him and it’s always good enough for him. But mostly, I love the sound of his laugh,” Siarris said. “There’s something about it that calms me and makes me happy. It rhythmatic and the face he makes while laughing is probably the best thing in the world. He’s a weirdo, but he’s my weirdo and I love it.”

The couple has only known each other for seven and a half months, but they are proud to say that they have already overcome so much and still ended up stronger than ever before.

“We haven’t let anything get in the way of us,” Siarris said.