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Culture > Entertainment

The Stages of Every New Relationship, As Told By ‘Young & Hungry’

Erica Kam

Young & Hungry’s episodes this week were, as always, all about relationships. “Young & Motorcycle” and “Young & Bullseye” saw #Jabi, and Sofia and Nick (not sure what their couple name is yet, since he’s only been around for three episodes but somehow we’re supposed to buy them moving in together?) dealing with the ups and downs of being in a relationship, and this is one of the things that makes the show so fun—even if their antics are a little over-the-top, their feelings and struggles are totally relatable. When we’re laughing at them, we’re kind of laughing at ourselves.

Here are five stages of every new relationship, as told by Young & Hungry.

1. The first-time jitters

It’s like a universal rule that the third date is when things start to get… serious, to say the least. But because this is Young & Hungry, it’s not going to be all rose petals and candlelight—and in fact, it usually isn’t in real life. We all get nervous and we all want it to be perfect.

Sofia and Nick’s plan to take things to the next level goes awry when pesky things like diarrhea and allergies get in the way, but watching her chug allergy medicine in a last-ditch effort to keep the perfect night from being ruined hits the nail on the head. Even though I’m still not really sure why Sofia needed to have a love interest in these last few episodes, Nick’s spiel at the end about how it doesn’t have to be perfect, just memorable, makes me like him a little more. A little.

2. When you start to prioritize their safety

Josh says he won’t “allow” Gabi to ride her uncle’s motorcycle around, and while he could’ve worded it better (because we don’t let men tell us what to do), the sentiment was there. Part of growing to love someone is realizing that their safety matters a lot to you, sometimes even more than your own. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s the exact realization Josh was having when he decided the only way to keep Gabi out of danger was to ride the motorcycle himself, and ended up getting hurt. In retrospect, I have no idea why he actually needed to ride it to keep it away from her, but it’s the thought that counts, right?

3. The awkward meet-the-friends night

You love your SO, but what do your friends think? Sofia and Nick’s double date with #Jabi was a total disaster, but I had to laugh at Sofia attempting to be cool and casual before it all went down. Wanting your SO to fit in with your friends is a fantasy we all have, even if Gabi and Sofia’s plan to live next door to each other and get married at the same time is a little more on the unrealistic side.

Plus, with this meeting comes a much less pleasant development: you start comparing your relationship to your friends’, and suddenly call everything about your love into question. Of course, the strongest couples make it out alive of this one, and Josh and Gabi are no exception.

4. When they become your go-to

The bartender calls Gabi’s phone while Josh is passed out because she’s his ICE—aka, his In Case of Emergency. That’s a pretty big milestone to hit, since before you make your SO your ICE, it’s probably your roommate or your mom. But someone wanting you to be the first one to know if anything happens to them is a sign of commitment that I think we all want in our lives.

5. The move-in question

Okay, so this one of course didn’t go as smoothly, and had a whole episode devoted to it, but this is still a pretty obvious one. At the end, they didn’t quite make it there (Sofia and Gabi are best when they’re together, anyway) but the show perfectly handled all the nervousness around being asked to move in. Despite our best efforts, we treat relationships like competitions sometimes: why did Sofia get asked before Gabi? Is Nick more committed than Josh is? When is Josh going to ask? When, when, when?

I think the best part of this episode was everyone realizing that relationships should be between you and your SO, and everyone else’s opinions can go right in the trash. Josh and Gabi deciding to wait until they’re ready surprised me, since they’re both such emotional, impulsive creatures, and impressed me—they’ve definitely grown as a couple, considering they slept together the first night they met. Of course, the teaser for the series finale lets us know that Josh is planning to take a much bigger step than moving in next week, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it!

Erica Kam is the Life Editor at Her Campus. She oversees the life, career, and news verticals on the site, including academics, experience, high school, money, work, and Her20s coverage. Over her six years at Her Campus, Erica has served in various editorial roles on the national team, including as the previous Culture Editor and as an editorial intern. She has also interned at Bustle Digital Group, where she covered entertainment news for Bustle and Elite Daily. She graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing from Barnard College, where she was the senior editor of Columbia and Barnard’s Her Campus chapter and a deputy copy editor for The Columbia Spectator. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her dissecting K-pop music videos for easter eggs and rereading Jane Austen novels. She also loves exploring her home, the best city in the world — and if you think that's not NYC, she's willing to fight you on it.