It wasn’t until October 2023 that they realized L.A. might just be the perfect place to fall in love. As Justin noted, they went to The Penmar’s Sunset Sessions and then headed to a bar with some friends. But at the end of the night, they realized they were the only ones from their group still there. Susie had left her car at Justin’s place. But before they headed back, she suggested they make a pit stop at a 7-Eleven for some snacks.

While they were “messing around with each other a little flirtatiously per usual,” Justin said, Susie told him to stop playing around.

“I was like, ‘Oh, this tone seems a little bit different,” he remembered. “In the back of my head, I was like, ‘If you’re serious, I’m serious.’ That was kind of my mindset. I had always been testing the lines, and I wasn’t sure if she would go for it. So, I didn’t want to cross those boundaries.”

After ordering a car and arriving at his place, Justin and Susie told each other how they felt.

“We had a really nice conversation, and I kinda just went for it,” he added. “I was like, ‘Hey listen, I don’t know where you stand on our friendship or relationship. Obviously, I respect you so much, and I appreciate our friendship. But I’d be lying if I [said I] haven’t thought about if there is potential for more than a friendship just given the natural chemistry that we had as friends.'”

They ended up having their first kiss on his couch that night and decided to give their relationship a go.

But not wanting to mess up the dynamic of their friend group, they tested out their romance in private for the first few weeks. And while they eventually told a few pals, they still wanted to keep things pretty hush-hush for all the right reasons.

“We’ve always wanted to just kind of protect our privacy, which sounds funny to say because we went on the show where our romantic connections are far from private,” Justin said. “But we wanted to just protect our peace, and control our narrative and not put any pressure on our relationship.”

Fast-forward three months—and several flirty Instagram posts that had Bachelor fans anticipating the most dramatic reveal ever—everything seems to be coming up roses for Susie and Justin.

He told E! they even had their “own little hometown” date over the holidays, in which he met her family in Virginia and she met his in Maryland, even joining him for an outing to see his beloved Baltimore Ravens play.

And while Susie says they have “natural fun chemistry” and always have a blast together, she noted it’s the support she receives from Justin that makes her adore him the most.

“If I’m dealing with something, I just deal with it myself, and I don’t know if I’ve ever felt like I could rely on someone to be there the way I can rely on Justin,” she said. “It actually makes me kind of emotional talking about it because I feel like there have been so many things where he’s just shown such good character when I’ve really needed somebody….He’s really shown up and been so supportive, and I’ve never had someone be there for me like that. I have a great family, but like a partner, I’ve never had somebody show up the way he has.”

Meanwhile, Justin said he’s in awe of Susie’s compassion, patience and the way she shows her love for others.

“She’s always just so understanding and kind, and she’s a huge empath,” he explained. “She’s kind of taught me how to step back, and just communicate, and slow things down, and see things from a totally different angle, which is something that I probably needed.”

So can we steal you for a sec? Because now that fans know where Susie and Justin stand, keep reading to check in on the rest of Bachelor Nation.